oblivion
by abigailbelleofkilronan
Summary: it's a slow burn that everyone but them notices. somehow it's exactly what they both need. MODERN AU. Enjolras/Eponine, onesided Marius/Eponine and Grantaire/Enjolras, Courfeyrac/Eponine. M for swearing/later chapters.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Les Miserables.**

**A/N: So I'm not exactly sure what happened but I ship this now. Yeah. By the way, I only included some of the characters because reasons, and all mistakes are mine.**

* * *

ob·liv·i·on

/əˈblivēən/

Noun

1. The state of being unaware or unconscious of what is happening.

* * *

"I swear to god, Enj, if you do this, I will owe you for the rest of my life."

Eponine rolled her eyes, and took a long sip of her drink. Courfeyrac had been trying to convince Enjolras to wingman him for the whole night, but so far the taller man had politely declined and chosen to silently drink tap water and sit alone.

Yeah, Enjolras could be a fucking wet blanket a lot of the time.

"I'm not interested in helping you trick some poor girl into spending a night with you."

"Come on, it'll be fun! I can find someone for you, if you want. Or Eponine can. She's actually a really great wingman."

Eponine laughed, somewhat bitterly, as she thought of how she had been the one to (unintentionally) bring Marius and Cosette together that night at the bar. She'd done a _great_wingman job that night. Since then she had avoided any activity that involved being around the happy couple. It was her own fault they were together, and she would have no part in watching them be disgustingly romantic with each other.

"I would prefer to be back at the café, where we can work in peace without distractions." Enjolras said firmly.

"Well, you're here anyway, so what's the point of not having a little fun?" Courfeyrac tried, grinning.

Enjolras cleared his throat. "There is no point in me being here. I tried to explain this before we came here, but if I recall correctly, you would have none of it. Hence, I am here for no reason, and I am not enjoying myself."

"It's 10:30 on a Friday night, the drinks at this bar are crazily cheap, and all you do is sit there like you'd rather have your fingernails slowly torn off than be here." Grantaire drawled as he walked up to them, having returned from the bathroom. "Have a drink! Let loose for once."

Eponine grinned, and shared a look with the slightly inebriated young man.

Since Marius had met the so-called 'love of his life' a few months ago, Grantaire and Eponine had been spending more and more time together. Of course, they mostly just drank and complained about their feelings for Marius and Enjolras respectively, but the company of others was almost nicesometimes.

_Especially when your company is completely shitfaced. _The girl thought to herself, smirking slightly.

"Someone has to drive, Grantaire." Enjolras' voice suddenly pulled Eponine away from her thoughts, slamming his empty glass down on the table.

"Where are Jehan and Joly tonight?" Combeferre spoke up from his place next to Courfeyrac.

"Jehan is out with a girl he met the other week, and Joly is studying for some huge test. If he doesn't have his first heart attack in the next few years, I'm calling it a miracle." Courfeyrac replied, setting his eye on a woman across the bar. Apparently he'd abandoned all hope of engaging Enjolras in any wingman-related activities.

"What about Marius? I heard he and Cosette were going through a rough patch." Eponine tried to speak casually, taking another sip of her drink after she said it and focusing her eyes on the ground. There was no reply from any of the boys, and when she looked up, Courfeyrac, Grantaire and Enjolras were all glaring at her, while Combeferre had taken out his phone and was 'texting' intently.

"What?"

"You know what." Courfeyrac replied, a frown appearing on his face. "Desperately hoping for a relationship to end is really not healthy."

Eponine snorted. "Fuck you, Courf. You hit on girls who have boyfriends every other day."

"That's different. Marius is your best friend – your completely idiotic, clueless best friend. You can't just pretend to be okay with him constantly blabbering on about Cosette to you, and you can't fuck around with his relationship either. Just forget it." Grantaire drawled.

"The high and mighty act is pretty rich coming from you." Eponine snapped before gesturing for the barman to refill her glass. Grantaire dropped his head, knowing she could hit him right back if he threw anything at her, but she could see Enjolras shaking his head at her fourth drink of the night from the corner of her eye.

"For once, I actually agree with Grantaire. You're going to get hurt, and we're going to be the ones who have to take care of you." He muttered.

"I'm sorry that being my friend is such an inconvenience to you." She replied, trying to appear indifferent as his words raced around in her mind.

"I didn't mean it that way, and you know it. You're just taking it the wrong way so you have an excuse to drink some more and be like Grantaire."

Eponine felt anger bubbling under her skin, and it was even more intense because she knew he was right. She was about to spit something back, quite possibly an insult, because Grantaire was staring into his bottle and looking so heartbroken she wanted to smack Enjolras across the face. _Hard._

"Okay, okay, guys. Let's not do this tonight." Combeferre said with a pointed look at the pair.

Enjolras nodded, Eponine shrugged, Grantaire kept staring, and then there was a silence.

Courfeyrac stood after a moment. "I'm going to go talk to that girl across the bar. Ep, you should get home soon."

Eponine's head was swimming a bit, and she was about to respond that if she went home like this, she'd end up beaten and possibly raped, but her mind flashed with all the hard work she'd put in to make sure her friends didn't figure out where the hand shaped bruises came from, and why she never picked up her father's calls around them, so she kept her mouth shut and nodded in response even though Courfeyrac was already walking away.

"I'll call you a taxi." Combeferre offered.

"No, I'll walk. It'll only take me about ten minutes." Eponine lied, getting up and dusting off her jeans.

Enjolras raised an eyebrow. "Where do you live, exactly?"

"Bye guys. Sorry about the hostility. It's just been a rough couple of months." Eponine ignored the question and hugged Combeferre, nodded at Enjolras and bumped her fist against Grantaire's before slipping on her coat and leaving the group. It wasn't until she had stumbled outside that she took a moment to breathe deeply.

Lying and sneaking around like this was killing her. She was constantly trying to keep her friends from finding out where she lived – they had all been to the inn at one point or another, without knowing it was run by her family, of course – and how she lived. If they found out...

Eponine shuddered at the thought of what they might do, and started walking. As she was walking, she remembered Grantaire's forlorn face and pulled out her phone. The boys had all pitched in and bought her an iPhone last Christmas. It took them three weeks to convince her to keep it, but she still felt odd using it. She hadn't earned it. Like, at all. She had been a bit of a shitty friend that Christmas, not being able to buy the guys presents because of her school fees. Obviously they didn't see that as shoddy friendship, but she definitely did.

_Didn't want to say anything in front of the guys, but are you okay? Enjolras' foot seems to be in love with his mouth a lot of the time._

Eponine sent the text, and was just finishing off another one to Azelma (_you guys closed yet? I need to sneak in but I want to wait till they're asleep) _when Grantaire replied.

_he hadm ore of ago at yuo_

She snorted out loud.

_That's different. I deserve it._

_im the noe whose sodr unk that im fallingasleep in my drink_

_At least you still have your sense of humor. Get home safe, okay?_

_will do ms jondretet_

Eponine sighed and put her phone away. She had no reply from Azelma yet, and she wasn't about to take any risks, so she walked until she found a bench, before sitting down and getting out her phone again to play Angry Birds.

* * *

Three hours later, she snuck through the back door of the Inn and into her bedroom, tired, sore and still a bit tipsy.

She was really, _really _fucking sick of this life.

* * *

**A/N: Yeah... this is really short. But I don't want to try and flesh it out too much because it's not exactly the most interesting chapter in the world. It's just a quick thing. Next chapter is going to be a hell of a lot of backstory, because this is a Modern AU and even I don't know exactly how it works. I guess we'll all find out in a few days (maybe a week, IDK).**


	2. Chapter 2

**WARNING: Possible rape triggers in here, so I thought I'd give a special warning.**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Les Miserables.**

* * *

Eponine was born in a hospital, of all places. Azelma and Gavroche both came out kicking and screaming in one of the back rooms at the Inn, but not Eponine. She was cleaned up, wrapped in a blanket, given to her mama and treated like a normal child.

At least, that's what her father said when he was in a good enough mood to not snap at her. He said she was a miracle girl. Her mama didn't know she was pregnant until two months in, and she'd been drinking the occasional sip of wine (which Eponine always knew meant a _lot _of alcohol). The doctors thought they were going to lose the baby.

But no, Eponine Thenardier demanded to be born, and she was.

Obviously, that was back when the inn was doing pretty well.

* * *

She had beautiful dresses, and adorable toys, and her mother and father loved her.

What more could she want?

* * *

She was 5 years old when Azelma was born, and she was pretty happy to have a younger sister. She thought they could play together – dress up, draw, sing and dance, run around with the other children.

Azelma wasn't as cute as Eponine thought she would be when she first came out, but then she got cleaned up and Eponine was so happy that the baby had eyes that were _'just like mine, mama!' _that she didn't notice that her father wasn't even there.

She helped her mama get into bed and promised to make sure nobody disturbed the baby, who was sleeping in a blanket-lined drawer.

At the time, Eponine had thought it was cute, but looking back, it was a very dusty set of drawers and the baby's coughing went on for so many hours that her mama abandoned the room altogether and went to sleep in Eponine's bed.

She slept in the room with the baby instead.

* * *

Eponine started to realize that things were changing in the Inn. More often than not, she was asked to grind meat that wasn't beef like papa claimed it was, or given bags to take upstairs that people didn't know had been taken from them.

Her mama said it was fine, that it was just a bit of rule breaking and that nobody noticed it, and her mama was the smartest woman she knew, so of course, she believed her. It wasn't that difficult to believe, really.

Most of the people who came in looked very tired and very overloaded with baggage, so it was kind of like they were helping them all out.

* * *

One night she was woken up by screaming, but not the kind she was used to. It was her mama and papa instead of people who found out that their bags had been taken. She tiptoed down the hallway, being careful not to wake Azelma, who Eponine shared a bed with, and listened from the top of the stairs.

"We've already got two brats, we don't need another fucking mouth to feed!"

"Well, I can't exactly get rid of it, now can I? Bloody hospital charges a fortune to get these things scraped out!"

"Get rid of it yourself, then! I will not raise another kid while we're already in debt! Down a couple bottles of wine and it'll be gone by morning!"

"It didn't fucking work with Eponine, so I don't know why you think it'll work with this one!"

She didn't know exactly what the words meant when she heard them, but she pieced it together eventually.

That was when she stopped believing in her parents.

* * *

Gavroche was born anyway, even if nobody wanted him, when Eponine was 12. Azelma took pity on him, kind little naive thing that she was, and bathed, clothed and fed him whenever she could. One day she tried smuggling him to school because she didn't want to leave him at home, and when the school called their parents, the two girls got their first beatings (Azelma for being an idiot, Eponine for not stopping her).

* * *

She wore the same clothes day in, day out, tried not to anger her father, and spent most of her time praying that someone would come and take her away.

* * *

Nobody ever came.

* * *

Her education was important to her, even if it wasn't important to any members of her family, and she fought for it tooth and nail. She had tried to get Azelma to stay in school but her sister was an impressionable young thing and her parents easily convinced her to agree that she would drop out at 16.

Eponine, however, would have none of it. She agreed that university was reaching a bit too far, but she wanted to fully complete high school. Even at age 15, she could see a better life for herself, a better world. She could make things work, if she really, really tried.

Her father was becoming more frequent with his beatings because of this fight she was putting up, and she would've considered talking to one of the guidance counselors at her school and asking for help if she wasn't so worried for Azelma and Gavroche.

She was losing the argument against her parents, slowly but surely, when one of her father's friends brought his son in. His name was Montparnasse; he was 2 years older than her, devastatingly handsome, but absolutely revolting.

However, when he heard them fighting over the matter, he casually stated that there were classes Eponine could take that would help her get ready to work at the inn. She was sure he was wrong, but her father believed it after the new boy lied through his teeth (very convincingly).

A deal was struck, and Eponine spent the rest of the night talking with Montparnasse as a form of repayment.

* * *

He took her virginity when she was 16, and he barely even cared that it was painful for her. The moment was uncomfortable and short, but she was glad that it was him and not a strange drunk customer who caught her alone – that had almost happened to Azelma a few months before.

They were on-again, off-again for a few months (it was mostly just sex, which was actually starting to feel pretty good) until Eponine noticed that the boy she was actually starting to have vaguely non-violent feelings for was starting to turn into her father. He was helping out with scams and tricks, stealing money off innocent women and men, and though she had seen this happen her whole life, she'd never wanted to take part in it, and she'd never liked anyone who did (except Azelma, who was basically forced into it).

She ended things officially when he held a knife up to a child just to get a bit of hard cash, and he spat at her, fucked her anyway, and left.

That was when she really started to think about how she could get away from this life. She knew people who _threatened children_. This was not how her teenage years were supposed to go.

* * *

It happened a few times.

Eponine would be somewhere in the inn, normally trying to hide, when a disgusting (sometimes drunk and sometimes not) man would walk up to her, leering and pouting and saying horrible things.

Her father said nothing when they dragged her to one of the back rooms, but she often heard him asking for 'extra payment' when they left her in the corner of the room, shaking and trying to hold back screaming.

She didn't realize until years later that she had been whored out by her own father.

* * *

Eponine was 17 years old and about to finish school when she met Marius. He accidentally slammed into her at a market and made her spill her shopping bags, so as an apology, he repacked her bags and bought her a coffee. He was a first year university student, and everything Eponine had ever dreamed of. He was smart, kind, funny, and _so _handsome. She had never given much thought to university, as she had only been focused on getting a job somewhere and saving up enough for a place for her and her siblings that was far away from the inn.

But she had persevered this far, and she thought that maybe with her scores she might be able to get into a half-decent campus, which would only help her in her quest to get a good job. Marius offered to help her, and they soon became friends.

Of course, she knew that if he found out about her family life he'd be disgusted, so she resolved to keep it a secret, and that was that.

* * *

One day Marius made a comment about her shirt being dirty, so when she got home she packed up all her old clothing, tossed it out onto the street, and used her savings to buy a whole new wardrobe. Of course, it was mostly stuff from thrift shops, but she scored a leather coat that fitted her almost perfectly, and decided that even if the remark had hurt, Marius had helped her feel better about herself in the long run.

Gavroche got a beating from the old man (she hadn't called him papa since her brother was born) for the first time a week after that and when her parents wouldn't foot the bill for a check-up appointment, the poor kid had to limp everywhere. She hated herself for being so stupid with her money just because a cute boyhad made a comment about how she dressed.

* * *

The day she graduated, Marius picked her up afterwards and took her and Gavroche (who had been sworn to secrecy about their family life because he wanted to meet Eponine's best friend and attend her graduation) to a little café where he and his friends liked to spend most of their time.

The place was a small but friendly shop on the corner of a street, and Marius took her to the back room, where his friends were all gathered around a table, drinking, eating and laughing. She and Gavroche were introduced to them one-by-one.

A man called Courfeyrac gave her a flirty wink and ruffled her brother's hair. The next man, Combeferre, apologized for his friend's 'inappropriate behavior' and immediately started asking her about her university options (which were actually quite broad, so fucking _there, _dad), before a man stumbled in, introduced himself as Grantaire, and almost collapsed right at her feet. Another man (there was so many men here, it almost wasn't funny) hoisted him up before he could fall – Marius said his name was Joly, and he was a medical student who had a bit of an OCD about illnesses.

There were two other guys, and they were both sitting down scribbling on paper. One of them was doodling in the margins next to a few verses of scrawled print, ('Jehan fancies himself a poet, and he's actually pretty good, but he can get lost in his head a bit,' Marius explained), and the other was frowning as he violently yet neatly wrote on a crisp white piece of paper. ('Enjolras is always going to rallies and making petitions, fighting for social justice, all that stuff. I think he just enjoys writing strong worded letters to people in government, really.')

The boys were loud and opinionated, but intelligent and interesting all the same, and Eponine found herself losing track of time. Eventually she had to pull Gavroche away from a conversation with Courfeyrac about the best kind of chocolate, but as they left, and then called themselves a cab that they probably couldn't afford, Eponine found she was stuck on a particular conversation she'd had.

('So, monsieur, all these boys have set personalities. What about you? What is your story?' Eponine teased in a posh accent. 'You don't need to ask things like that. If there is anyone who knows my story better than I do, it is you, madame.' Marius replied with a charming smile.)

* * *

She was celebrating her first day at her second choice university (which actually turned out to be better than she'd expected) at a bar, with a fake ID (supplied by Grantaire) when Courfeyrac casually mentioned what she hadn't realized yet.

"And you know, I'm all for hopeless one-way feelings for your best friend, but I think that's more your stride, y'know?"

Eponine coughed, spluttered, and then spat a bit before replying. "_What?!_"

"Don't act like you don't know. You, the whole 'I'm in love with you but you've got horse blinders on and don't see that I want to be more than friends' thing you have with Marius."

She was silent for a moment, and Courfeyrac started babbling again.

"I am _not _in love with Marius." She interrupted loudly.

Grantaire, the only other one there that night, shot her a look and then chuckled deeply, before uttering the only words he'd said since his fight with Enjolras earlier that day. "Pull the other leg."

Eponine really had nothing to say to that – she had realized quickly that Grantaire had serious feelings for Enjolras, and she knew that when it came to unrequited love, he was basically the expert – but she spent the rest of the night wondering how she didn't realize that she was hopelessly in love with Marius Pontmercy.

* * *

Marius kissed her on her 21st birthday.

It was a little peck, but _god. _It made her stomach fly up into her throat, and she tried to ignore the concerned stares from her friends. She would not let them ruin this by making it a bad thing.

* * *

She didn't fucking _mean _to introduce them.

For weeks after that night, Marius thanked her endlessly, promised to set her up with one of his friends (she politely declined when he suggested Courfeyrac, and told him he had absolutely no taste in men), and tried to build up a friendship between her and Cosette.

They were at the bar (they spent an equal amount of time there and at the café now that Eponine was 21), and it was one of those rare nights where they were all quiet and relaxed.

Eponine excused herself at about 9, and headed over to the bathroom. She fixed her makeup inside, and when she exited, she found herself colliding with another body and falling to the ground.

"Oh, god, I'm so sorry!" A voice cried out. Eponine looked up to see a ridiculously beautiful girl in a similar position, looking apologetic.

"No, it was my fault. I wasn't watching where I was going." Eponine said, smiling at the petite blonde and rubbing her head.

"Eponine, are you alright?" The girl in question looked up to see Marius extending a hand to her and Joly pulling out his emergency first aid kit. "We just saw you fall..."

Marius' voice trailed off, and she saw him lock eyes with the blonde girl. "Would you like some help up?"

Eponine nodded thankfully but Marius was already extending a hand to the girl (to the _stranger) _and grinning like a mad man.

"Thank you. I'm really sorry about that... um, what was your name?" The question was directed to Eponine this time.

"This is Eponine." Marius answered instead, drawing the girl's attention back to him. "My name's Marius."

"Mine's Cosette."

Eponine thought that if she focused hard enough, she might be able to actually feel her heart cracking in two.

* * *

All her life she had just wanted something _good _to happen. Yes, she had her friends, and her brother (Azelma hadn't spoken to her properly since Eponine made the decision to go to university), and a job at a Starbucks located in the university, but she still just wanted something amazing.

Marius meeting 'the girl of his dreams' was not on her list of amazing things – it was obviously on his, though.

All she could think was that she had pinned all of her happiness on this one thing (Marius) and she'd never thought about it all falling through. It wasn't hard to be in love with Marius, but watching him be in love with someone else was excruciating.

* * *

It took them two weeks to make it 'Facebook official' which was apparently a big enough deal that Marius had to go on about it 24/7.

Soon his profile picture was changed as well (which happened pretty much once a week anyway). The photo was of Marius with his arm around Cosette, both of them smiling at each other. Courfeyrac had taken it (after Marius begged him to) at some university party to celebrate the end of exams. The caption read 'my happiness is all thanks to my two fave girls – the astonishingly beautiful Cosette, and lovely Eponine for introducing us!'

She couldn't figure out which was worse – the pain or the pitying looks she received each day from the other guys.

* * *

The day before she turned 22, he told the group that he'd said 'I love you' to Cosette and she'd said it back. Eponine felt bile rising in her throat.

The pain was definitely worse.

* * *

**A/N: There you go. Hope it wasn't too ridiculously depressing. I kind of enjoyed writing it, to be honest, because I didn't really have my head wrapped around this AU before now, and now I feel ready to take it on for real. You'll notice I used my creative license to mess up the age differences and all that stuff. Sorry.**

**I have pretty much every chapter loosely planned out, but I'm wondering what you guys are hoping will happen? Obviously there are many possibilities, and the E/E interactions haven't even properly begun yet. There will be a few chapters from other character's POV, but it's mostly going to be Eponine.**

**ALSO: to be clear, I am a Cosette lover, so there will be no hate on her in this story, because she's kind of an amazing person (though that is only showcased in the book – her character is kind of destroyed in the musical) and in my head canon, she and Eponine eventually become really good friends, so that's going to happen. Another thing – I hate stories that include Eppy-sue, so let me know if I'm going down that path *shudder*.**

**xxx**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own Les Miserables.**

**A/N: UGH this chapter was an absolute BITCH to write. I have a strict chapter setout that I need to follow (otherwise this story could end up unfinished and messy and just ew), but this chapter feels really 'filler-ish' to me, even though it's setting up for later chapters.**

**Anyway, I really appreciate the reviews/story alerts/faves, etc. You're all awesome people! I would like to remind you, though, that this is going to be a ****_very _****slow burn, and you can't hate me for that because I already warned you in the summary.**

* * *

Eponine was woken up by a small figure jumping onto her bed.

"Gav, it's too early for this." She groaned, shoving at her brother.

"Sorry." The boy said, grinning. Eponine sat up and sighed, looking around her room.

She tried to keep it as clean as possible, washing and folding her own clothes, mopping and sweeping, even wiping down the windows, but it was still disgusting as ever.

"We're going to get out of here one day, Gavroche." Eponine said suddenly. "We're going to leave without looking back, I promise you."

"Azelma too?"

She winced. "If she wants to. You know what she can be like when it comes to me. What's for breakfast?"

"There isn't any." Gavroche replied. "No bread, no milk, nothing."

Eponine sighed heavily.

"Come on, I'll treat you at the bakery."

"Really?" Gavroche lit up all at once, bouncing on her bed.

"Hey, hey! Don't be too loud, you'll wake up the old man, and then there'll be no treat for either of us." She whispered, quietly hopping out of her bed. She pulled her blanket up over the pillow to make it look like she was still there – not that it would stop anyone from coming in – and shooed Gavroche out so she could get dressed.

After pulling on a plain shirt and jeans, she slipped on her jacket and held her shoes in one hand so they wouldn't make too much noise.

Her brother was waiting downstairs, hair a mess and clothes wrinkled, but he looked so happy she couldn't bare to tell him to sneak back up to his room and risk being caught just to get changed, so she tried to smooth down his hair as best she could, and then took his hand and snuck out the back.

They walked down the street together, laughing and talking, and Eponine noticed that his pronunciation was getting much better.

"School is doing you good." She commented.

Gavroche shrugged. "It's boring sometimes but I learn a lot."

"You have to promise me you'll keep at it, okay? Your education is important."

"I promise, 'Ponine." He smiled up at her.

They made their way to a cheap, but friendly bakery a few blocks down from the inn. It had just opened, and the smell of fresh bread was intoxicating.

The bell on the door rang when they entered, and Gavroche immediately ran over to the display case. After barely a few seconds, he jabbed his finger at one of the pastries and exclaimed, "I want that one!"

"I want that one, what?" Eponine hated the way she sounded saying that, but the boy needed to learn manners, and he wasn't going to learn them anywhere else.

"I want that one _please_."

A plump woman behind the counter smiled at Gavroche and took out the pastry, before placing it in a paper bag.

"Will that be all?"

Eponine's stomach rumbled quietly. "Yes, thanks."

"Aren't you hungry, Eponine?" Her brother asked.  
"I'll steal a bite of yours." She replied quickly, counting out the few coins she had in her wallet and placing them on the counter. The worker gave the bag to Gavroche, and he thanked her before pulling Eponine out of the bakery.

They wandered over to the park, and Eponine tried to distract herself from the aching hunger in her stomach as she listened to Gavroche tell a story about school in between bites of his pastry.

As Gavroche was ending his story, Eponine saw a figure heading towards them. She grabbed her brother's arm and was ready to run, jumping to the worst conclusion, but it was only Enjolras, his face serious as always, striding towards them. Gavroche didn't notice the man until he was right in front of them, and of course as soon as he did, he jumped up, excitedly chatting away.

"Gav." Eponine cut in. "I have some stuff to talk about with Enjolras, so could you start walking without me?"

It was a bit of a risky decision to send him back on his own, but he was very street-smart for a 10 year old, and Eponine had a bone to pick with Enjolras. Gavroche nodded after a moment of staring, and left them alone at the bench.

"Will he be alright? I didn't know you lived so close." Enjolras asked, taking a seat next to Eponine. She shrugged in response so she didn't have to talk about where she and Gav lived.

"Shouldn't you be a little less lenient? Letting him go off on his own doesn't seem like the best thing for him." He frowned.

"Well, if you want to bring him up your own way, you can start by buying all his food and paying all his school fees. Then we can talk about what the best thing for him is." Eponine replied with a sigh.  
Enjolras shuffled awkwardly in his seat. "You know, if you need any of us to lend you some money or a place to stay, we'd all be-"

"I don't need your fucking pity, alright?" The brunette spat out.

"It's not pity. It's friendship."

Eponine laughed at this. "If you're so concerned about being a good friend, maybe you should be talking to Grantaire and not me."  
"As if he'd be up this early. I thought you were mad because of the things I said to you last night."

Goddamn boy was fucking clueless! He had almost no clue what was going on around him.

"People have been saying things like that to me my whole life, Enj. I was mad because you were being a dickhead to one of your best friends for no reason." Eponine explained, getting up to start walking and gesturing for the blonde to follow.

He got up slowly, and they began walking as Enjolras explained his thoughts on Grantaire.

"He has so much potential. He's intelligent, and funny, and while he's sarcastic about most of our issues, when he's a part of our rallies, they're always better. He just doesn't think he has it in him. We all know he does, but he spends most of his time drinking and passing out. I understand it was his personal choice to drop out of university so he could spend more time at his job, but I feel like he just did it to get more money so he could buy his own apartment where no-one's going to stop him from wasting away his life."

"Enj, you don't get it at _all_. He's your friend, and you have to accept him the way he is. If he enjoys doing what he does, then that's his fucking business! He never drives while drunk, he doesn't drink enough to do any long-term damage to his brain, and he's always with friends if he's in public. He is smart about it. Dropping out? His decision. Getting completely shit-faced some nights? His decision."

"Okay, okay. I get that. I just worry about him." Enjolras sighed.

Eponine fought the urge to scream at him. Grantaire and Enjolras both made her completely crazy sometimes – Grantaire for not admitting his feelings, and Enjolras for not seeing what was right in front of him. Some days Eponine felt like she was stuck in the middle of a bad romance book.

"We all worry about each other. That's what friends are for, right? That and picking up pieces, of course." The brunette couldn't resist adding that last remark in.

Enjolras coughed. "I'm sorry about that. I'd had a bit too much to drink."

"Poor light-weight Enjy. Three sips of gin and tonic and he's swearing, knocking things over, and _god-forbid, _fucking women."

"I resent the implication that I don't fornicate."

"... Did you seriously just say fornicate?"

The man blushed. "It's a perfectly acceptable use of the term."

"If you're a 60 year old maths professor who hasn't performed the action since he was in his twenties, then yes, it's perfectly acceptable." Eponine rolled her eyes.

"Christ Eponine, do you seriously think I've never... _fucked_?" Enjolras spat out the last word as if he couldn't wait for it to leave his tongue.

"Yep."

Her friend stopped in the middle of the footpath and spluttered.

"Just because I've chosen to focus on my studies for the time being doesn't mean I didn't have relationships in high school."

Well, this was a bit of a game-changer. The group had always assumed Enjolras was asexual, or at the very least only interested in a particular type of man or woman that he'd yet to meet.

"How many?" Eponine asked, as casually as she could.

"I had 2 girlfriends, and a few flings. I don't see why it's such a big deal."

The girl shrugged. "I guess we just always assumed that you weren't interested in that kind of thing – I didn't even know you were straight."

"See, this is exactly why the 'Nothing Said, Nothing Assumed' campaign is important! Stereotyping and judgement of others based on trivial information like how many people you've dated is completely wrong, and so is defining someone by their sexuality. Straight and gay are just words we use to put ourselves in boxes! Yes, I have only been attracted to women in my life, but I don't need to label myself." Enjolras animatedly explained.

Eponine sighed. He had reverted back to his usual self, and right on time, too, because they had reached the edge of the park, and Eponine had to run if she was going to catch up with Gavroche before he got to the inn.

"Right. Well, I'm sure I'll hear more about it soon."

"You'll hear about it tonight at the meeting! In fact, I might reference our conversation – I won't name you, of course, but this is exactly the kind of thing we need to make people aware of. Not that you're not an important player in the social justice game, Eponine, because you definitely are. That's why you should join more of our rallies and campaigns!" Enjolras grinned. "You're coming tonight, right?"

"I'll try. I have to finish one of my essays, so I might be a bit late." Eponine lied as she started heading down the street. She'd finished all her essays for the week, so now it all depended on being allowed out by her papa (unlikely) or sneaking out (risky). This was one of the reasons why she was considering going down the same path as Grantaire and dropping out of university to focus on a full-time job so she could move into her own apartment with Gavroche.

"Well, your education is incredibly important, but if you finish in time, stop by!" The blonde said, waving as he walked off in the other direction.

Eponine started jogging as soon as Enjolras was out of sight, hoping that Gavroche hadn't been caught sneaking back in.

As her feet thumped against the pavement, the girl thought about what Enjolras had said about only being attracted to women. Shit, if Grantaire heard Enjolras referencing the conversation about him being primarily straight at the meeting that night, he'd be crushed. Eponine took out her phone as she turned onto the street where the inn was located, texted Gav to make sure he was okay (he was), and quickly called up Grantaire.

"Eponine?"

"Hey. I didn't expect you to be up this early."

"No sleep for the wicked."

"Hey, um..." Eponine quickly thought about how to give him the heads up about the situation, but had another idea. "Let's ditch the meeting tonight and spend the night at yours. We should talk about some stuff."  
"Sounds serious." Grantaire laughed. "Okay, I'll see you tonight."

"Wait! Make sure to stock up on alcohol. And ice cream. Lots of alcohol and ice cream." There was silence on the other end of the line, so Eponine hung up. She walked to the back of the inn, and after seeing that the backdoor was already open, rushed inside as quickly and quietly as she could.

* * *

**A/N: I'M SORRY THIS IS SO AWFUL. I needed to set up the story. This chapter serves a purpose. Really, it does.**

**If you feel the urge to review (go ahead!), could you let me know what you guys think of Enjolras/Grantaire and Eponine/Marius? Because obviously we have some hurdles to get over before we can start up a romance between E and E, and those hurdles mainly consist of the people who are either desperately in love with them, or who they are desperately in love with, and hurdles are hard, man. Like, I don't know about you guys, but when I try getting over them, I end up face down in the dirt after having knocked the first (and smallest/easiest) one over. So it's going to take a while...**

**Like I said, slow burn.**

**Xx**


	4. Chapter 4

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Les Miserables.**

**A/N: This story is kind of kicking my butt at the moment and I've barely even started! I've made a rule that I can only upload one chapter once the one that follows it is finished – bit of a strange idea, I know, but it works.**

**I'm never going to be one of those people who says '10 reviews and I'll update', and I'm never going to be one of those people who gets thousands of reviews, but holy shit, you guys have been so lovely. Hopefully you're enjoying it so far – let me know!**

* * *

Eponine knocked loudly on the door one, two, three times.

Almost immediately she heard the sound of footsteps and then the door was being opened. Grantaire stood in front of her, bottle in one hand and corkscrew between his bared teeth.

She grinned, and walked in, lightly pushing him to the side, and walked down his hall into his lounge room. He came in just as she was flopping onto the couch with a sigh, and put the bottle and corkscrew on the table before disappearing into the kitchen.

Eponine made quick work of the cork in the bottle and sniffed at the opening. Wine wasn't usually her drink but she was going to need to inhale a good amount before she could get the guts to tell Grantaire that...

Oh, fuck. She had forgotten that was what she was there for.

Biting her lip, she slumped back on the couch, clutching the bottle, as Grantaire thumped around in the kitchen. When he returned, she was still cradling the wine, and he gave her a strange look before shrugging, and placing two wine glasses and a large pint of ice cream on the coffee table. He then produced two spoons from behind each ear, took off the ice cream lid and stuck the spoons into the chocolate-y goodness.

As he was pouring the wine, he talked about the awful day he'd had.

"Accounting might pay well, but fucking hell, it's the dullest thing I could ever imagine. Every day I'm there is another day I regret ever dropping out of uni. But then I come home to this place and I'm not so unhappy." Then Grantaire smiled. "Especially when my best mate wants to get drunk on good wine, and high on sugar."

"I never actually mentioned wine." Eponine pointed out, scooping out a large portion of ice cream. "I just said 'alcohol', which could've meant... I don't know, vodka? Absinthe? I could even go for some of the cider Courf goes on about."

"I forgot you have that weird thing about wine. Why don't you like it, again?"

Eponine slowly ate her spoonful of ice cream to avoid the question, but he was waiting. "I don't have your kind of lifestyle, R. I don't drink fancy wine and watch mind-numbing crap on my flat screen TV. I only ever had shitty, cheap, tasteless wine and it kind of put me off."  
Grantaire frowned, and was quiet for a minute as he ate his own spoonful of ice cream.

"We worry about you, Ep. Nobody knows where you and Gav live, or who your parents are. You try to hide it but you're tired almost all of the time. What's going on?"

Eponine considered saying something.

She thought about his reaction if she told him about her home life. He would probably swear a fuck-load, pace around, and eventually call Combeferre – because 'Ferre was always much better at keeping his head in these kind of situations.

Combeferre would immediately locate the inn (if anyone asked how he found it, he'd say 'research' when it was really just Google maps), and after realizing they'd all been there at one time or another and knew the layout pretty well, he'd call Jehan (who would quite possibly just cry), Joly (who would freak the fuck out and text Eponine continuously asking about any disease-ridden animals, people or objects she may have come in contact with at the inn) and Courfeyrac (who would be outraged that Eponine hadn't told him) to tell them the news. Marius would find out eventually, and be extremely worried, but he'd never do anything about it.

For a moment, Eponine found herself replaying the image of Enjolras having one of his rare but intense violent rages – silently getting in his car after hearing the news, driving to the inn, storming in and punching her father, and quite possible Montparnasse.

She had only seen him get like that once. Some douchebag at the café had pushed past Gavroche so roughly it was almost inhumane, and the poor boy fell and hit his head so hard that Eponine was in tears when she burst into the back room where the boys were planning an equal marriage rights rally, carrying her brother in her arms and hysterically begging Joly to just _do something_. Enjolras and Courfeyrac actually had to hold her back when Joly took Gavroche out of her arms, and when she explained between gasps what had happened, a look came over Enjolras' face and he asked for a description of the man and left immediately when she gave him the best she could remember.

Later Grantaire had ranted on about what an idiot he was, telling the story of how Enjolras had picked a fight with the guy – the man actually ended up walking up to Eponine with a limp and a black eye, apologizing, giving her some flowers for Gavroche and leaving with his tail between his legs – and when Eponine had confronted him he'd sternly told her that he would've done it for any one of his friends.

She could only imagine what he would do for Combeferre or Marius, because he'd never been that angry over someone hurting them. Maybe it was some sexist part of him saying he should defend a helpless woman and her young brother.

"Dickhead." Eponine thought.

"Huh?" Grantaire's voice brought her out of her haze, and she turned to see him looking at her. "Who's a dickhead?"

Oh. So she had said it out loud. "Uh..."  
"Marius?" Her best friend supplied with a small smile.

"Yeah," Eponine said quickly, happily going with the explanation he'd supplied. "But that's not what I wanted to talk about."

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that. You were kind of intense on the phone."

Eponine nodded, gulped down the rest of her wine, and clasped her hands together tightly before she began speaking.

"Do you remember that day we were all speculating on Enjolras' sexuality, and we came up with the conclusion that he was either gay, or asexual?"

Grantaire blushed, and then smirked. "Our group is a bit strange sometimes."

"You started that conversation." Eponine laughed. "Anyway, I was talking with him this morning, and I... I think we got it a bit wrong."

"What do you mean?" Grantaire asked casually, draining the last drops of his own wine just as she had.

"He's straight." The girl blurted out. "I mean... we just kind of accidentally got onto the subject. He mentioned he'd had girlfriends in the past. Like in high school, before he met you guys."

Grantaire took a gulp of wine directly from the bottle. "Oh. Well. Good for him."

"Are you okay?" Eponine asked slowly. Her best friend laughed bitterly.

"Why would Enjolras being straight affect me? I never had a chance anyway, this just proves it. You're acting like I'm going to be heartbroken over this."

"Look, I never had the slightest chance with Marius, but I was able to pretend that one day he might look at me in a different way. Then he met Cosette, and I spent so long being angry with her that it almost consumed me. It was only a few weeks ago that I realized it was my fault, not anyone else's. _I _fell in love with Marius, _I _entertained the fantasy that he might love me back, and _I _never told him about how I felt. It was unfair of me to hate Cosette, because she acted on her feelings for Marius, whereas I was never brave enough. Marius is oblivious, and sometimes he's really a dickhead, but I started to ignore those parts of him. That's obsession, though, not love. I'm sick of feeling this way, and I'm sure you are too. Finding out that the slight chance you had with Enjolras is completely gone? That has to hurt."

"It doesn't!" Grantaire spat. "Not as badly as it used to. I already _knew _he was straight; I just didn't want to say anything because I fucking knew this would happen! I knew everyone would start treating me the way they treat you."

Eponine stood up, rage coursing through her veins like blood. "What the fuck is that supposed to mean?"

"It means that everybody pities you!" Her best friend shouted.

"You don't think I know that? I see the looks that you all give me, Grantaire-"

"Obviously you don't!" Grantaire cut her off, standing up to face her. "If you could see the way Enjolras looks at you sometimes, you would've known that he was straight long before today."

Eponine didn't quite know what to say to that. They stood in silence for a while, before she finally mustered up the courage to reply.

"Enjolras does not have feelings for me."

Grantaire scoffed. "I never said he had actual feelings for you. You're not enough to crack the man of stone, believe me, but apparently if you're wearing the right clothes, you're enough to give him a hard on!"

The girl gasped. Grantaire seemed to realize how far he'd gone, and after staring at his feet for a moment, he sat back down and poured himself another glass of wine.

Eponine lowered herself down to the couch slowly, trying to wrap her head around all this new information. The man sitting next to her refilled her glass, and she eagerly took it.

"I'm sorry, Ep. It's just... hard." Grantaire sighed, leaning back on the couch. Eponine nodded and sculled her wine.

"Are we going to keep talking about Enjy's penis?" She quipped. The remark was met with a roaring laugh.

"Okay, I didn't expect that one."

"Neither did I."

"Can we get drunk now?"

Eponine laughed and nodded.

* * *

Three hours later, they were sufficiently drunk.

"Hey, you know what we should do?" Grantaire slurred.

Eponine grunted as she lay face down on the couch, only raising her head to drink some more wine.

"We should call our guys – y'know, I call Engine and you call Mayor Pinocchio."

"You mean Enjolras and Marius?"

"Yeah, those dicks. We should call them and tell them what we think, and be like 'you might have a really fucking awesome face but you're an idiot and you should just stop' because that statement applies to both of them."

"Why are you using such big words?" Eponine groaned.

"Come on, just do it!" Grantaire cried out happily, getting out his phone and throwing it at Eponine.

"Fine. But you have to call Enjolras afterwards."

Grantaire was already snoring from his place on the floor.

* * *

**12:37 AM:**

"Hey Marrrrrrrr... ius. Hah! Your name is so weird. You're weird. I don't like you sometimes. Except when I do. I don't like you when you're with stupid Cosette because she's perfect and blonde and I'll never look like her because if I bleach my hair I'll look like someone from N-SYNC and that's just totally not good. What was I talking about again?"

**12:51 AM:**

"I remembered what I was meant to say before! You're a _penis_. Or a dick. Aren't they the same thing? I'm pretty sure they're the same thing. Well, you should know. You have one. Don't you? Maybe you don't, I don't know, I've never seen you naked. Oh my god, I've never seen you naked! Friends need to see each other naked, Marius, it's like, _really _important to the friendship!"

**1:37 AM:**

"You're so... oblivious! And unintelligent! And other big words! You never notice anything except your own selfish bullshit! I hate you and your stupid face and your freckles and your eyes and your motherfucking ears. Like really, you have stupid ass ears. They stick out a lot. You must have donkey genes or something. I don't know why that walking Barbie likes you. You're not likeable at all."

**1:39 AM:**

"You're really likeable Marius. I didn't mean what I said before."

**1:43 AM:**

"I _did _mean what I said before! You say you care about people and that you love them, but in the end you never do anything for them! I helped you buy Valentine's day presents and Christmas presents and Birthday presents – _all _for Cosette – and you just pat me on the head like a fucking dog and say 'thanks, but leave me alone so I can make out with my ultra perfect girlfriend'! Have you ever thought about the fact that maybe I don't want to hear all about your personal life sometimes? Have you thought about how the rest of our friends feel about you constantly blabbing on about your girlfriend? No! I bet you haven't thought about that, because that would involve actually thinking about the wellbeing of your friends, which you _never _do!"

**1:47 AM:**

"God, Marius. You've hurt me so much. Everywhere I go there's this stabbing pain in my chest and I can't get rid of it, and it's your fucking fault. I can't go out without seeing your face everywhere and hearing your voice, and it's your fucking fault."

**1:59 AM:**

"Why Cosette? Why her?"

**2:04 AM:**

"I know why you fell in love with Cosette so fast. It's because she's beautiful, and kind, and smart, and she always thinks of others. If it didn't hurt so much, I would want to be her friend, not just because she's your girlfriend, but also because she's such an amazing woman, and I'm just... not."

**2:07 AM:**

"I'm not in love with your girlfriend, by the way. She's just a really good person."

**2:24 AM:**

"I hate myself so much sometimes. And you, I hate you. Actually, no, I don't hate you... I lo- GRANTAIRE, FUCK OFF! I'M NOT PUTTING THE PHONE DOWN, YOU CAN'T MAKE ME-"

* * *

Eponine sat up straight from where she was lying on the floor, memories of the previous night coming back to haunt her.

"Fuck."

* * *

**A/N: Wow, that voicemail stuff was so fun to write, I can't even tell you, but I kind of made myself depressed while writing the sadder parts.**

**Hope you enjoyed this chapter and that it was a bit more interesting than the last one.**

**OH! One last thing; shout-out to urorhel, who has reviewed every chapter so far (well, yeah, I only have 3 chapters up but seriously, I really appreciate it) and always says such kind things that inspire me to keep writing! Thank you, urorhel!**


	5. Chapter 5

**CHAPTER FIVE (SUNDAY)**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Les Miserables.**

**A/N: Oh hey there guys. Another chapter begins, and we shall see how Marius reacts to Eponine drunkenly telling him what a douchenozzle he is. Side note – douchenozzle is a good word and if you're judging me for using it, you should just leave.**

* * *

Eponine paced nervously in the back room of the café. Grantaire watched her as he nursed a beer, and chuckled for a moment before she shot him a look that shut him up completely. He hadn't upheld his side of their drunken bargain (he'd passed out after stealing his phone back) so he had absolutely no right to be mocking her.

She had texted Marius earlier that morning (well, as soon as she woke up, which wasn't particularly early due to the intense drinking marathon she'd had the previous night) and begged for his forgiveness, asking him to meet her at the café for lunch. He hadn't replied, so she sat there waiting, alternating between staring at the door and staring at her phone.

"Look, Ep, you shouldn't feel so bad. Marius has left you drunken voicemails before. It happens to the best of us." Grantaire said, placing a hand on Eponine's shoulder.

"It's not just that... You don't remember the things I said, R. I went on and on about how much of a dickhead he was-"

Grantaire scoffed. "At least you were being honest."

The girl hit him on the shoulder before she continued. "I said all this stuff about Cosette and I think I nearly told him about my feelings for him, but you stopped me right before I did it."

"I don't understand how you can have such a good memory of what you do when you're drunk." Her best friend sighed, shaking his head. "For me, there are just big gaps in my night where I completely forget what I did. I could've slept with someone last night, and if they'd left before I woke up, I would never know."

"I would tell you, though." Eponine pointed out.

"What if it was you?"

Eponine wrinkled her nose.

"That would never happen."

Grantaire leered. "Strange things happen when two people get drunk."

"You're gay."

"Gay is just a word you use to contain me and stop me from being who I am. You fall in love with a person, not a gender, and that is the message we should be fighting for!" The man stood up on his chair, impersonating Enjolras perfectly.

Just then, Enjolras walked into the room, having a seemingly intense conversation with Marius, who looked like he wasn't enjoying the conversation at all.

"We must fight for equality! We must fight so I can bang anybody I please without judgement from my peers!" Grantaire continued, not noticing the two new arrivals.

"I'm glad you're finally coming to understand why we need social justice in this world." Enjolras remarked dryly, pushing Grantaire, who then stumbled off his chair with a curse. "Eponine, I hear your plans to study were overrun by Grantaire's need for a drinking buddy. Perhaps you should stop hanging around so much with someone who is obviously such a bad influence."

"I don't know who your source is, but that's utter bullshit. _I _called up Grantaire. The fact that you immediately assume _he_ is the bad influence on _me_ says something about how quick you are to judge for someone who is so completely against stereotypes."

Enjolras stared. "I was joking, Ep, but that was a very quick response."

"I'm good at thinking on my feet." The girl said, eager to end the conversation and grovel to Marius.  
"Really? Do you enjoy improvisation?"

Eponine looked at him blankly.

"You know, acting and the like." Enjolras elaborated.

Eponine stopped worrying about Marius for a moment.

When she was a young girl, she had often fantasized about growing up and becoming an actress. She had been in love with the idea of losing herself in another character, another world, and to have it as a job, where she could earn money and buy a bigger house for her family, would've been a dream come true.

Eponine sobered with age, and her dreams became far more realistic and much smaller.

"Uh..."

"There's a drama class starting up at the end of this week – it's one of the late enrolment classes – and I'm looking for someone to start it with me. Someone at our meeting last night suggested it to me because it'll improve my public speaking skills, as well as confidence, and having a bit of fun. I'm signing myself tomorrow. Would you be interested?"

Sometimes she almost forgot that Enjolras attended the same university as her and Jehan. When they talked about classes or programs going on, Enjolras never joined in, or even showed interest, so it was easy to forget that he'd been there for two years longer than her.

Eponine widened her eyes. "Firstly, I never thought I'd hear you list 'having a bit of fun' as a reason to participate in something. Secondly, I'm not so sure your public speaking skills need any improvement. Lastly, I don't know if I'll be able to pay for an extra class."

Enjolras grinned. "I'll pay for your class!"

"I thought your parents cut you off."

"They had a change of heart when they found out that I was interested in law, so apparently we're just completely forgetting the lack of faith they had in me and my ideas when I first started university." The blonde explained, rolling his eyes a bit at the end.

"But you're not interested in law." Eponine pointed out.

Enjolras cleared his throat. "Well, they don't know I haven't changed my major yet."

"Right. So they're just paying for everything now?" Eponine said with a raised eyebrow.

"Not exactly. They're paying my school tuition, and they've helped out a bit with the rent, but that's all."

Eponine shook her head. "Then I can't let you pay for one of my classes. I'm not a charity case, Enjolras."

"Can you please consider it? Just get back to me by tomorrow at 2pm, because that's when my last class is and tomorrow is the last day I can put my name down." Enjolras was looking so enthusiastic that Eponine could only bite her lip, nod, and watch as he physically lit up even more, and walked off, leaving her with Marius.

Eponine turned to the man she was in love with and opened her mouth.

"Before you say anything, Eponine, let me talk." Marius cut her off swiftly. "Everyone drinks sometimes, and everyone makes mistakes. Calling me last night was obviously a mistake. Going over to Grantaire's was probably the biggest one."

"Marius, blame me all you want, but leave R out of this. He gets enough bullshit from Enjolras." Eponine said firmly, and her friend nodded, before continuing.

"But... some of the things you said, 'Ponine. I mean, the first few were funny, but then it got really confrontational. You went from saying awful stuff to me to sounding really upset. Now, I don't think I have donkey ears."

Eponine tried to hold back a chuckle.

"I don't think you should bleach your hair, because you're perfect the way you are, and I definitely don't think it's important to see each other naked in a friendship, but I do think that I may have been annoying you by talking about Cosette all the time. I want to know why, though. Everyone gets angry with me sometimes, but I kind of feel like they all get particularly mad if I ask your help with something or talk to you about Cosette. I don't get it."

Eponine took a deep breath.

_Tell him._

_Don't tell him, you fucking idiot! He's awful with dramatic situations._

_Why does that matter? This is about me – you – US!_

_No, it's about being the better person and swallowing your pain._

_I've been swallowing my pain since five years ago when I met Marius. Actually, I've been swallowing my pain since I was born, and I'll be fucked if I'm going to continue on this way._

_You could lose Marius forever if you tell him._

"I... don't know what you're talking about. I think we all just get a bit frustrated sometimes, and while it would probably help if you toned down the Cosette talk, we're all still young and stupid. We get in fights, and we make up. I've just been going through a bit of bullshit in the past months. The stuff about being in pain has nothing to do with you, I was just venting. I'm really, really sorry."

Eponine couldn't believe it when Marius smiled.

_He actually bought that? He really is oblivious. _Eponine thought.

"It's alright, 'Ponine. We all make mistakes. Maybe I've been asking too much of you... but there is one thing you could to as a favor for me."

Eponine sucked in a breath.

"Could you maybe spend some time with Cosette tomorrow morning? I checked with her before coming here, and she's completely free, and I know you don't have work or classes on Mondays, so maybe you could get a coffee with her or something. I just really want you to be friends, particularly so you can see that she's not stupid, and she's not a Barbie, but mostly because you're my two favorite girls, and if you were friends, it would really just make things perfect."

She let out the breath slowly, trying to keep the anguish off her face.

"Of course." Eponine said through gritted teeth.

"You're the best, 'Ponine!" Marius grinned. He hugged her tightly, before explaining that he had a class to get to. Eponine kept smiling until he was well and truly out the door, and then she felt herself sag.

She turned to see three new arrivals (Courfeyrac, Combeferre and Joly) all looking at her sadly, as Enjolras focused on a thick book he'd brought out and Grantaire focus on slowly sipping his bottle of absinthe.

"R, pass me that bottle." Eponine grunted, taking a place next to her best friend at the table. He pushed the object in question towards her and she picked it up, surveyed its contents (there were about three inches of liquid left in the bottle) and took a big sip.

"Don't you have classes today, Ep?" Joly's uncertain voice came from behind her.

Eponine snorted and addressed him without turning around. "Believe me, this is more important than education."

"I sincerely hope you're joking." Enjolras suddenly said. "Joly is correct, you have classes today. Showing up to them drunk is probably not a bright idea."

"Enj, can the disapproving rant be saved for later? Now is not the best time."

The room was quiet, and the sound of Grantaire taking the bottle back and sipping at it again filled the space.

"What happened?" Courfeyrac asked.

"To make up for the drunken messages I left on his phone last night, His Royal Highness has requested that I spend tomorrow morning bonding with his girlfriend. He wants us to be friends, or some shit like that."

"He's actually asking you to do that because you got drunk and called him?" Combeferre spluttered.

"It's almost like he doesn't remember the time he pocket dialed me while fucking Cosette in the Starbucks bathroom." Eponine laughed bitterly. Not only had she heard the whole thing, it had been in the Starbucks that she worked at – _while _she was working there.

"That's crazy, Ep, you can't let him do that to you." Joly insisted. "With the amount of favors you've done for him, there is no way you owe him anything."

"Friendship isn't about keeping score." Enjolras piped up. "It's about caring for one another... Marius obviously doesn't grasp that concept, as he's too busy being a complete jackass."

Suddenly, Eponine burst out laughing. Grantaire joined in, and so did the rest of the group, excepting Enjolras who just stared at them as though they were insane.

"What's so funny?"

"You... calling... Marius... a jackass..." Courfeyrac wheezed. "You, Mr 'Offensive-Words-Are-Not-To-Be-Taken-Lightly', just called Marius fucking Pontmercy a _jackass_."

"You guys, we should try and stop. Death by laughter is a serious thing, and this might just be the thing that murders us all." Joly said, tears streaming down his face.

Enjolras stared at them, looking increasingly frightened, and eventually the laughter died down.

"It wasn't _that _funny." He insisted, and this started up the laughter again.

Eponine watched Enjolras slam his head against the table, and wondered if things were really as bad as she thought.

* * *

**A/N: This felt short, but it was a kind of nice ending, don't ya think? Next chapter we'll have some Cosette/Eponine friendship times. Hope you guys like the Lark! (Cause I definitely do.) **


	6. Chapter 6

**CHAPTER SIX (MONDAY)**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Les Miserables.**

**A/N: OKAY GUYS READ THIS IT'S VERY IMPORTANT. I'm worried that some of you might think that in this chapter Cosette and Eponine become friends too fast, and that it's not believable, but I ask that you read the brick (aka, the original Victor Hugo novel) first and then tell me that you wouldn't instantly become friends with Cosette if you met her. Seriously, she's like a ball of sunshine wrapped up in butterflies and nightgowns and other nice things. That being said, I understand that some people just don't like her, and if you just dislike her character and not the fact that she and Marius fell in love, then I'm totally fine with that. But it pisses me off to no end when people define Cosette by her relationship with Marius (this happens with Eponine as well), or say that she's a bland and boring character. READ. THE. NOVEL. She went through so much abuse in her childhood, and she deserved every ounce of love she got. Eponine deserved that much love too, and I think if she'd received that love, she wouldn't have been such a crazy little thing (like really she wanted to die with Marius at the barricades so he wouldn't be with Cosette) and she wouldn't have to be defined by her relationship with motherfucking Marius Pontmercy.**

**Wow I'm VERY sorry. I have a tendency to rant. That got out of hand quickly. Enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

Looking at her watch and sighing, Eponine wondered if it was too late to cancel her brunch with Cosette. She had ignored the boys telling her not to do this for Marius, but she was beginning to regret ever agreeing to it.

Just as she was about to get up and call Marius to say she had to cancel, the boy in question walked through the doors, hand in hand with Cosette. He didn't notice that she was sitting just two tables away from where he stood in the doorway until Cosette pointed her out.

"Hey, 'Ponine!" Marius called cheerfully, waving with his free hand.

Eponine gave a tight-lipped smile in response and watched him walk over to her table and pull out a chair for his girlfriend (as if she couldn't do it herself).

As the blonde girl took her seat, Marius started talking. "I gave Cosette a lift here and just thought I'd come in and make sure she could find you."

"Cool." Eponine replied.

"Okay, well, I'd better get to class. Love you." He directed the last part to Cosette and gave her a pretty long and disgusting kiss before leaving.

"Sorry about that." The shorter girl began immediately after Marius had gone. "He tries so hard to be a gentleman sometimes that it's almost like he doesn't see anybody else around him."

Eponine laughed. "You have that right."

A waitress came over right then, and after they'd ordered (a blueberry muffin and chai tea for Cosette, and an espresso and a macadamia nut cookie for Eponine) Cosette started up the conversation.

"So, Marius tells me you're majoring in engineering."

Eponine grimaced. "Yeah, I uh... kind of have to."

"Why?" Cosette frowned.

"It's kind of a long story." The brunette bit her lip.

"I've got time."

"Well, you know Grantaire?" Cosette nodded, so Eponine continued. "His uncle owns this big car repair place. A few years ago he got enough money to open up a second garage, and Grantaire dropped out of university to manage it. He reckons if I have the qualifications, he can get me a job with good pay there, so last year I changed my major to engineering."

"It's not your passion, then?" The blonde inquired.

"Well, uh... no. But I need the money, and there are worse things to do than work with your best friend."

Cosette opened her mouth as if about to say something, shut it, and then finally spoke. "I really don't mean to push any boundaries here, and you can slap me for being nosy if you'd like to, but why aren't your parents helping you out with money so you can actually do what you want?"

Eponine clasped her hands together in her lap and stared at them.

"My family isn't particularly well-off. I kind of want to get away from them as soon as I can."

Their orders arrived just then, and the conversation was halted for a moment. But sure enough, as soon as Eponine took the first sip of her drink, Cosette got them back on track.

"If money wasn't a problem, what would you be doing?"

This stumped the brunette for a moment. "The only other major I even considered was theatre, but there's no use in that. I can't even act, and even if I could, actors are everywhere. It'd be useless to me."

"What's your minor?" Cosette asked, after taking a sip of her drink delicately. Everything the girl did was so fucking eloquent that Eponine wanted to cry.

"Gender studies."

Cosette broke into a grin at this. "Really? I just changed my minor to that! I'll be seeing you in class, then."

"Huh?"

"Oh, I go to your school." Cosette blushed. "I've seen you around, but I didn't want to say anything because... well, I... to be honest, I've tried to avoid the meetings in the café. I get the feeling some of you don't like me, and obviously that's fine. I just don't want to be in a place where I'm not wanted, which is kind of why I was wary about coming here today."

Eponine stared at the blonde girl sitting across from her, who was growing increasingly uncomfortable by the second. The taller girl felt a strong wave of guilt crashing down over her. Cosette was probably the nicest girl Eponine had ever met, and the poor thing thought that all of Marius' friends hated her!

"Please don't feel that way!" Eponine exclaimed. "You're a lovely person, Cosette, and all of our group knows that. We just don't know you very well. Agh, I feel awful now. I didn't ever mean to make you feel out of place. I just... I have issues with Marius, and they may have affected the way I've treated you in the past. I'm really sorry."

Cosette's eyes were wide as saucers, but a look of relief soon washed over her face. "Oh, thank god! I was _so _worried, Eponine. I thought you were only here because Marius made you do this, and I just... Oh, that's a weight off my shoulders."

The brunette stopped herself for a moment. Was she really becoming friends with this girl? The girl who had taken away the one thing Eponine had going for her?

_Oh, stop it. You take Gender Studies, and you're blaming Marius' girlfriend instead of him for this? That's textbook _bullshit _and you know it. It's not her fault. She's a perfectly nice girl. Just fucking chill out._

"I'm glad. I can't believe I haven't realized that you go to the same university as me!"

The blonde laughed. "Well, I'm in a completely different section of the campus to you, so that's understandable. I'm doing a double major in dance and teaching."

"Jesus. That must be a lot of work."

"Not really. Dance used to be my minor, but I became more interested in it, hence gender studies."

"What about work?" Eponine asked.

Cosette blushed again. "I don't actually work. My, um... my papa is quite wealthy and he insists I live at home until I have a steady job. Gosh, I'm sorry, I must seem like I'm rubbing this in your face."  
"Not at all."

"So, back to you. Why don't you change your major? I know someone at a job placement agency who could help you out with a job that pays a bit better, if you'd like." The petite girl offered.

"I don't know..."

"Really, it'd be no big deal."

"I'll think about it." Eponine said eventually.

"Great! Hey, about the theatre thing, why don't you take a drama class with Enjolras?"

The brunette almost dropped her drink. "Did _everyone _know which university you go to but me?"

Cosette laughed, but didn't reply.

"He actually offered to pay for my class, but it felt too much like charity. I should probably text him to let him know that he doesn't need to sign me up, actually."

"Why?" Cosette frowned.

"Because he'd be paying for my class. It's fucking bullshit." Eponine immediately regretted cursing, but her new friend only laughed it off and spoke again.

"You can pay him back when you're a famous actress." Cosette grinned. "Isn't this kind of perfect? It'll help you decide if you want to change your major or not, and it'll be fun... well, probably."

"I suppose so." Eponine said, thinking hard.

"I don't mean to be pushy, by the way-"

"Cosette." The brunette cut in. "You seem like an awesome person so far, but you should worry less about what people think of you. Constantly worrying that you're overstepping a line is no way to live."

"I'm not actually like this normally, to be honest. It's just my father's personality coming out in me because I want to make a good impression. If there's anything to be worried about in terms of me and my relation to lines, it's that I might just go so far off book that I completely lose the line altogether."

"See now, _that _is an amazing way to live. Being inappropriate and challenging things is the best shit in the world, excluding food." Eponine grinned. "You should try being more like that kind of person when you meet new people. Hey, how about you come to the meeting tonight?"

"Really?" Cosette said, sounding unsure.

"Yeah, they're normally really fun. Unless Enjolras and Grantaire get in a fight, or Joly reads about some new disease and demands we all get vaccinated, or Jehan falls in love at first sight again. Then we usually go to a bar and tease each other about our stupid drink choices."

"Okay, let's make a deal." The blonde said. She drank the last bit of her drink and set down her empty cup with a quiet thud. "I'll go to the meeting tonight and step out of my box a bit, and you agree to sign up for the drama class with Enjolras."

Eponine thought for a moment, agreed, and flagged down a waitress. Today felt like a day for a second cookie.

* * *

The pair continued to talk for an hour and a half, and then Eponine realized the time. She hugged Cosette goodbye (and if that wasn't progress, she didn't know what was) and left hurriedly, running to the nearby bus station.

Once the bus arrived and she was seated, she got out her phone (she'd put it on silent during the brunch because no, she wasn't a totally unsocial asshole) and saw she had two new texts.

One was from Enjolras, and it read:

_So are you in or not?_

She replied with a yes and a smiley face, and checked the other text.

It was from Marius, and Eponine was ridiculously excited to hear from him, even after becoming friends with his girlfriend, until she read the text.

_Did the thing with Cosette go ok? She's not answering her texts. Did you do something? No offence Ep but sometimes you say stuff and don't realize that it might be hurting people._

Eponine shut her eyes tightly, feeling a mixture of sadness and rage sweep through her body.

_Actually we had a good time. I actually didn't fucking do anything, Marius, but thanks for jumping to conclusions just because she turned off her phone for two hours._

She could barely keep herself from adding more swear words in there before she sent it. Ten minutes later, still on the bus, she received a text, and after checking it and sighing when she realized it was Courfeyrac who'd sent it, she quickly scanned it.

_Marius just got back from class and said he may have something up. What did our genius do this time?_

_He was just being an idiot and worrying that I'd fucked up something AGAIN, because apparently I can't do anything right. Nbd. I'll see you guys later. Tell the group Cosette's coming to the meeting tonight, and you all better be nice because we're like friends or something now._

_I didn't see THAT coming._

_Hey, be nice. She's pretty awesome. Way too good for Marius._

_So are you, Ep._

_Ha. Nice try. Tell Marius not to bother with the half-assed apology that you'll make him send._

_I just said exactly that to him and he immediately started writing a text. Mission failed._

_Courf, you're an idiot._

_And yet the ladies love me._

_Okay, you're a DELUSIONAL idiot._

* * *

The text she got from Marius was short and unsatisfactory, but in her reply, she said it was fine, and that she looked forward to seeing him that night.

She didn't feel bad about lying because she had just spent her morning becoming friends with a girl she had once despised, and she had done it for him.

* * *

**A/N: This was mostly friendship building between Cosette and Eponine. I am actually going to start writing some proper E/E, guys, I promise. Next chapter will be their first drama class, which won't involve a whole lot of actual drama class, just a bit of a talk between Eponine and Enjolras. Also, sorry if I fucked up any of the university stuff – it's very different in Australia!**

**Xx**


	7. Chapter 7

**CHAPTER SEVEN (MONDAY)**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Les Miserables.**

**A/N: Okay. So. This was hard to write for some reason. It took me a while to get it done, even though it's INSANELY SHORT, and I'm still not happy with it. It doesn't carry any important plot points, except a talk between Eponine and Enjolras, and starting up the saga of drama classes, which will hopefully become more interesting. I'm going to have a couple of drama class chapters scattered here and there, maybe more if you guys are enjoying them, but I will only write the required amount (I have a ****_very _****specific plan for this story) if the other chapters are as hard to write as this one!**

* * *

The week went by slowly but surely. The rest of the group met Cosette and instantly got along with her (the blonde held up her end of the bargain and was as charismatic as ever from the moment she walked in the door, and Eponine had several conversation with the boys, where they informed her that she was much too good for Marius, but the boy in question was so happy that his friends and girlfriend were getting along that he was even more oblivious than usual) and Eponine continued to study.

By the time Monday came around again, the girl had almost forgotten that it was the day of her first drama lesson.

If she was being completely honest, it was a bit scary to think about. She hadn't done any sort of acting since drama in high school, which was completely different to a university class where people actually had ambitions. Although, Eponine had ambitions too, but in her case, they were ridiculous and she was only at this class because Enjolras was a good friend, and she never backed down from a deal (Cosette had held up her end, anyway, so Eponine had to as well).

As she walked across campus, making her way to the drama hall, she wondered if Enjolras had asked anyone else to join him in this class. She assumed he had, as he was the sort of person who had backups for any situation, but none of the boys had talked about it, and the girl couldn't think of anyone else that her friend might have asked.

Thinking about it made her even more glad that she had agreed to do this, as she wouldn't want to leave him on his own in a class full of drama snobs – he'd be eaten _alive_, a rebellious young thinker like him.

Finally she came across the building and entered, about ten minutes early (for once) to the class. The room was empty except for one man in the far corner who was texting, and Eponine's footsteps echoed as she looked around the beautiful hall.

There was a stage about two feet up from the ground, and it had velvet red curtains drawn on either side. There were rows of seats and two aisles that broke them up. The hall looked like a proper performance space, which Eponine probably should have expected. Her school was supposed to be renowned for its performance spaces.

The man texting glanced up for a moment, trailed his eyes down the brunette's body (fucking _gross_) and went back to staring at his phone again. Eponine sighed quietly, and walked down the aisle before taking a seat in the front row.

Enjolras had said to just bring a notepad and pencil, so Eponine brought hers out and began sketching to pass the time.

She was halfway done with a rushed (admittedly shitty) drawing of a boy on the back of a horse that had its front legs up in the air when she heard the sound of the door opening again.

Eponine glanced back, and saw that Enjolras had entered, and was making his way towards her. She smiled, grateful to see a familiar face, and moved her bag off the chair next to her so he could take a seat, which he did a moment later, eyes dark and mouth set in a scowl.

"Hey Enj... you alright?" The girl asked tentatively.

"Fine." He replied sharply.

"You want to talk about anything?"

"No."

"Uh, okay."

Eponine bit her lip, and looked down at her sketch, which was looking worse by the second. Determined, she added sharpness to the boy's face and made him scowl, trying not to make eye contact with Enjolras.

"You draw?" His voice came from beside her.

She nodded. "I'm not very good, but it's something to pass the time."

"You're pretty good. I've seen worse." Enjolras said, tone lightening considerably.

"I've seen better." Eponine countered with a small smile.

There was silence for a moment – the door opened again and a pair of girls came in together, speaking quietly to each other and sitting at the very back of the room – and Eponine could feel Enjolras' eyes on her hand as she added more detail to the picture.

"You should do designs for our posters." The blonde suggested.

"Um, what?"

He blinked. "Designs for our posters. God knows we have a lot of posters."

Eponine laughed at this. "I know what you mean, I just don't know why you're asking me."

"Who else is going to do it?" Enjolras asked.

"I would be happy to help, if I felt that my art would be helping your campaign. In this case I think it probably wouldn't. I'm awful." The girl explained.

Enjolras' face became stony again. "You shouldn't doubt your abilities."

"Okay." Beat. "Seriously, what happened today?"

"Nothing, I just... Grantaire got drunk and accidentally smashed a bottle on the table. The beer went all over my textbooks. It was just particularly inconvenient as I have an exam tomorrow, and I may have been a bit angry."

Was Enjolras... blushing?

"It just never ends with you two, does it? One of these days you're going to tear each other apart."

"I highly doubt that."

"Well, I highly _don't _doubt that."

"That was an awful sentence."

"Yeah, I know." Eponine rolled her eyes. "But my point still stands. You and Grantaire need to work your shit out. It affects the whole group when you guys get in a fight."

"I know!" Enjolras snapped. "We don't mean to even fight, but... look, today was different. He just suddenly attacked me, accusing me of..."

"Of what?" The girl prompted. "Come on, Enj, you can trust me with this stuff."

"We were arguing about you... kind of. Well, it was about everyone, really. I don't know, I was talking about how Marius was being completely unfair to you and then Grantaire got really angry and started yelling, saying I stand up for everyone but him, and... I guess that's kind of true. But it's not on purpose."  
Eponine felt a bit sick for a moment.

"I tried to explain, but it just sort of made him angrier. He said something along the lines of 'you're supposed to be made of stone, yet you crack for everyone but me!' and said he was done with putting up with me. I think it might be serious this time."  
Eponine gulped.

"You know Grantaire, he's always saying things like that. Once he's sobered up, he'll be fine." She said, not entirely certain that her statement was true.

The boy next to her was about to reply, but at that moment the back door opened again and someone started speaking.  
"Okay! Welcome to drama, everyone. I trust you all have the required equipment, and if you don't, you're kind of fucked in terms of university, because the required equipment is a notebook, a pen and a brain, and you should all have those on your person at all times."

The students chuckled.

Eponine and Enjolras turned to see a beautiful woman with short brown hair and a wide grin on her face marching across the room. She made her way up the stairs to the stage and then stood in the middle, looking around at everyone.

"My name is Fantine, and I'll be your teacher for this semester. First rule – I don't like speaking down to people. Get up on stage and leave the awkwardness behind."

Everyone rose and made their way to the stage where they were instructed to form a circle.

"Before we do a quick activity to break the ice – don't worry, it won't be _that _lame – you all should know that my second rule is that nobody in here judges. I won't tolerate any non-constructive criticism, racist, sexist or homophobic remarks, or anything else along those lines." Fantine stepped into the middle of the circle and looked around at the group. "Third rule is that we build up a sense of trust. In this class, you're going to have to delve into yourself and find out what kind of actor you are. You're going to need to draw on past experience, and rehash things you'd rather keep locked up. You're going to need to be completely emotionally vulnerable to learn how to be a good actor, and this means that we have to trust that others aren't going to insult your acting abilities, or make fun of the way your face looks when you cry, or anything stupid like that."

Fantine paused for a second to let her words sink in, and then continued.

"Alright, let's go around the circle. Say your name, and one thing you don't like about yourself. Remember, what happens in this room _stays _in this room. Except for murder, I'll probably have to report that."

It started with Enjolras ("I'm Enjolras. I dislike the way I sometimes forget about the feelings of others.") and ended with Eponine. ("Eponine. I push people away.")

Once that was over, they did a few 'warm up activities' that ironically took up most of the lesson.

Fantine ended the lesson by announcing the theme of the semester.

"Chemistry. It may seem like a strange thing to start with, but chemistry is the most important part of acting alongside others. Not just in romantic scenes, but in just about any scene involving more than one person. Chemistry can make or break a performance quicker than you can get booed off stage. Okay, that's enough for today. I know we didn't do a lot, but it's important that we're all comfortable with each other before we really get into the good stuff, especially when we'll be focusing on chemistry."

Eponine blew out a sharp breath. What had she gotten herself into?

* * *

**A/N: OKAY obviously this didn't have a lot of 'drama class' stuff, but I just wasn't feeling it this time. What would you guys like to see happen to Enj and Ep in these drama classes? Should there be a small performance? A discovery of onstage chemistry?**

**I have plans for Eponine in terms of stage acting (let's just say that some childhood dreams do come true) but this class seems like something Enjy would only partake in because he believes it will better his public speaking skills (as if he needs to get better at making speeches – he's almost as bad as Jeff Winger in that regard). What do you all think? Let me know if you have time.**

**Another thing: some people didn't like that Eponine wants to be in theatre, saying it's overdone/overused, and all I can say is I'm sorry you feel that way.**

**Xx**


	8. Chapter 8

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Les Miserables.**

**SPECIAL WARNING: Involves intense violence (not especially graphic but still not nice) because poor Eponine's parents are nasty little buggers.**

**A/N: Not much to say about this chapter, other than it made me sad to write because Eponine deserves so much better than this.**

**Alas, the story must go on, and character development must occur, and the Thenardiers must be reinstated as NON COMICAL CHARACTERS (because really the musical made two child abusers funny and while I appreciate the comic relief, it was absolute bullshit and made me a bit mad).**

* * *

Another week passed.

Grantaire and Enjolras weren't talking to each other, which caused a bit of a rift in the group. They were both getting on everyone's nerves a bit, but as long as they weren't in the same room, they weren't so bad.

Cosette was coming to meetings more often, and she seemed to be enjoying herself there. Marius was overjoyed that 'everyone was finally getting along', as though Grantaire and Enjolras were still good friends. Of course, his thoughts were mainly with Cosette and schoolwork as usual, and he never noticed the problems that others were having.

That being said, everyone in the group was doing pretty well. Jehan had finally won over the girl he'd been bugging them about for weeks (it reminded Eponine of Marius meeting Cosette, except in Jehan's case it was sweet and didn't make everyone want to gouge out their eyeballs), Joly and Combeferre had both done very well on their tests and were letting loose because of it (though Joly still carried around his bottle of disinfectant), Courfeyrac was close to achieving the perfect week (because of that he'd made them all watch an episode of How I Met Your Mother, where Barney was going for that particular goal, to warn them off saying the phrase 'perfect week' because it would jinx him) and even Grantaire, who normally was an unpleasant person to be around when in a fight with Enjolras, was drinking less and smiling more.

Eponine herself had been skillfully avoiding her parents for a while now, managing to duck out whenever they came looking for her. It meant that she didn't get as much sleep as her friends, but it was a small price to pay. She would rather be a bit tired than be sore from work at the inn, or a beating from her father, or a 10 minute nightmare in one of the backrooms with whoever was strong enough to drag her there.

Sometimes the brunette caught herself casually thinking about this kind of thing, and knew that it wasn't normal to accept abuse or sexual assault as inevitable, but what could she do? She had to care for Gavroche – she had given up on Azelma, if she was being completely honest – and that meant keeping her mouth shut about her home life until she had enough money to move out.

Still, she had been feeling lucky for a while now. The bruises on her skin were fading, and she hadn't been assaulted or yelled at in almost a month. Things actually seemed to be going well.

It was 10pm on a Wednesday night when Eponine ran out of luck.

She had been out with all of the gang (excluding Grantaire, who hadn't spoken to Enjolras since their fight). Enjolras had been giving talks at the café, and they were particularly rousing this time, but of course, the café was only open until 6, so they all made their way to their other residence – the bar.

Eponine had set herself a curfew of 9pm, but she was feeling so light and free of worries that she stayed for a half an hour longer than she should have, and finally left at quarter to 10.

Her walk home was peaceful, the air warm and breezy, and the only think she was thinking about was the paper she had due the following Monday.

She began mapping it out in her head, and just as she was thinking about how she would conclude it, she had reached her home. The girl went around the back as she usually did, but this time the door was locked.

Her heartbeat spiked a bit, though it wasn't the first time she'd been locked out without a key. Eponine took out a bobby pin from her hair (she'd accidentally given herself bangs the other week while cutting her own hair, and now she had taken to pinning them back because they got in her fucking face so much) and stuck in the lock, moving it around a bit. She finally heard the familiar click and the door swung open to reveal her mother standing behind it, arms crossed and face twisted into a scowl.

"Mama..." Eponine gasped.

"Why the bloody hell are you home so late?" Her mother snapped.

"I was just out with some friends." The younger girl replied, trying to keep from shaking.

"Ha! Friends? What fucking friends do you have?"

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-" Eponine began.

Her mother cut her off swiftly. "I don't want to hear it."

"Can I just explain?"

"I _said _I don't want to hear it."

"It's not even that late, mama."

"It might not be that late in the night, but it's much too late for your apologies. Your father's been getting more and more pissed off by the day, and it's your fault. You've been slipping through his fingers for weeks and he's not happy. Where have you even been getting to, you stupid girl? You know you have work to do here and Azelma's had to take over."

"I thought Azelma liked it." Eponine said quietly, embarrassed that the subject had been brought up.

"Oh, of course she does. She thinks all the men who fuck her are going to fall in love with her."

Eponine looked at her feet and recalled the conversation she'd had with her younger sister a few weeks back.

* * *

_"Why do you even care what I do, Eponine?" Azelma had sneered when Eponine expressed her worry about the things the younger girl did for a quick buck._

_"You know I care about you." She'd replied._

_"It's a pity that I don't care for you, then, isn't it?"_

_"You're underage, 'Zelma, it's illegal for you to be doing this."_

_"Don't call me that!" She'd snapped. "And none of the men who come through here seem to mind."_

_"Why do you do it?" Eponine had asked after a while.  
"It's like that stupid fairytale, remember? I just have to keep kissing frogs and one day I'll get myself a prince and I'll be out of here. That's why I don't need your help."_

_"But I could get you out of here so easily." The older girl said._

_"Stop telling me that! You're useless, you'll never get yourself out of here, never mind me or Gavroche. Look, I'll tell papa if you keep bugging me about this, and then your plans will be ruined, Eponine. Fuck off, I have stuff to do."_

* * *

Eponine shook herself away from the memory and fought back tears.

"God knows what's going on inside that girl's head. Anyway, she's not pretty enough to sate the men downstairs. They complain about her constantly, and they say they want you back. God knows why, you're only slightly better looking than your sister and that's not a high bar to jump over."

"Mama, please don't call for him." The girl said, changing the subject. Her mother scoffed.

"Why shouldn't I?"  
"Please, I can't take it tonight. He's not here, why should you get him down? He won't know that you let me go." Eponine begged.

"What if he finds out? What if your tongue slips and I end up on his shitlist?"

"I won't, I swear. I'll keep my mouth shut if he discovers me."  
Her mother looked unsure. "You know how rough your father can get when he wants answers."

"I can take it. I've been doing it for my whole life."

"Oh, alright. Just this once."

Eponine breathed a sigh of relief.

"But protecting you could mean getting bruises of my own, and I'm not gonna risk that. So get yourself upstairs quickly before the old man wakes up, alright? If he sees I let you go, there'll be hell for both of us. But don't be touching any of the food tomorrow, you can get some yourself with the cash you get from that fancy job of yours. You owe me, and if there's one less mouth to feed I'll be a very happy woman."

Eponine nodded thankfully, and exited the room. She walked across the main room of the inn and was about to rush up the stairs when suddenly her father was there, stumbling down to meet her.

"You little fucking brat!" He said as he made his way down.

"Papa, I'm sorry."

"Sorry? Fat load of good a sorry does me! Where have you been these past few days? People have been asking for you and you know what happens when I have to disappoint my customers."

"I've just got a lot of uni work-"

"Don't you fucking talk to me about your precious 'uni'." The man sneered. "When I agreed to this stupid school thing, you said it wouldn't interfere with your work here."

"And what exactly is my work here?" Eponine shouted.

Her father shoved her against the stair banister. "You know exactly what it is!"  
"I will not be a whore for you any longer, papa!"

"You think you're above this life, missy? That you're better than the rest of us? Well, you're not! You are low, you are scum, even in this fucking household. D'you think your fancy university friends think you're better than this? Do they even know who you really are?"

Eponine's mouth opened but she couldn't think of what to say.

"What are you going to do without this life? We're all you have, and you know it!"

"I can be better than this! I might not be now-"

"You don't fucking get it, Eponine. You were born into a life like this and you'll die the same way. You're in the gutter, just like the rest of us, and you'd have to be fucked in the head to ignore it."

The brunette was fuming. "Dad, I am better than this and I am better than you, no matter what-"

She was cut off, this time with a hard slap to her right cheek. It stung, but she stood defiant.

"You are not better than me, young lady, and you know why? I have never whored myself out."

Eponine blinked.

She could almost feel her blood boiling at the words. Her hands started shaking and her entire frame began trembling.

_I... whore _myself _out?_

She took a deep breath, tried to compose herself, and when she failed, she raised a hand, made it into a fist and hit her father in the center of his face as hard as she could.

"Father, this was all your doing. I did not do those things by choice. It was forced on me, and that is _your _fault, _not _mine."

There was a shriek from the back of the room (her mother) and a curse from her father, and even though her hand was already hurting, more than it usually did when she hit people because she was so blind with rage that she hadn't done it properly, she felt a sense of pride wash over her.

Eponine Thenardier had _finally_ stood up to her father.

The moment was ended abruptly when he swung his arm around and knocked her to the ground. For a terrifying moment there was no air in her lungs and she screamed in her mind.

As soon as she'd sucked in some sweet air, her father's foot met her stomach and she turned to the side, biting her lip so she wouldn't beg for mercy like he wanted her to.

The assault began. He attacked her face, shoulders, stomach, legs, and back, kicking and punching.

It had _never _been this bad.

Eponine fought for sanity, thinking of her friends, her brother, of Marius smiling at her on the day they met. She clung to images of Courfeyrac getting hit in the face with various drinks, and Grantaire applauding the girls who did it. She even thought of Cosette, who had lightly insulted Marius (and kissed him to make up for it) the other week, which resulted in an uproar of laughter that nearly got them kicked out of the bar.

Combeferre studying and Jehan falling in love over and over and Joly bringing out a clean white tablecloth to sit on when they were in that corner of the bar that was particularly skanky.

Finally, she thought of Enjolras, standing on tables and giving speeches, capturing everyone's attention with his passion and his words. She saw him smiling and holding back laughter and forgiving Grantaire for whatever the man had done while drunk the night before, and apologizing to the group for crossing lines, and giving Eponine a look that wasn't pity or regret – it was simply his way of telling her that he knew she was strong enough to make it through.

And she fucking _was_.

That thought ran through her mind over and over as she tried to keep conscious and not give in to the darkness that was trying to take over.

Finally the blows stopped. She vaguely registered her mother hissing "you've gone too fucking far this time," and the strange silence that followed before she finally closed her eyes and prayed that she would not have to open them again.

* * *

**A/N: I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry.**

**Please don't hate me for ending it there! I... oh god, I don't know about this chapter. Like, this story has comedy and angst and friendship but so far like pretty much no romance but that's because it's not realistic to have Enjolras and Eponine fall in love so fast... in fact, in my story plan... okay never mind.**

**I won't give that away.**

**Um. Please don't attack me in the reviews, because the next chapter is a bit longer and has some Enjolras POV and some proper E/E interaction so that should be good.**

**(Also I just realised that I haven't been using 'È' for Eponine, and now I feel like a bad Les Mis fan... oops.)**

**Xx**

**Abigailbelleofkilronan**


	9. Chapter 9

**CHAPTER NINE (THURSDAY)**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Les Miserables.**

**A/N: GUYS the reviews you've been giving me are amazing, I really appreciate them! You're all perfect.**

**This contains some more angst... sorry... But, I made up for it, because YAY ENJOLRAS POV! We get to see the inner workings of our handsome rebel with a heart of stone. (Well, his heart isn't particularly stony in this story, because later on there will be romantic interaction – a fair bit later on - but he's still pretty Enjolras-y. I hope...)**

* * *

Eponine felt pain rushing through her body before she even properly woke up. There was a pounding in her head and all her limbs felt stiff.

"Eponine, wake up, please..." A voice pleaded.

She took a deep breath, which resulted in the feeling of knifes scraping at her stomach, and tried to open her eyes. Her vision was blurred but she could just make out the outline of her brother, kneeling over her body. She tried saying his name but her throat was dry and her voice was so croaky she could barely pronounce a syllable.

As Eponine tried and failed to sit up, flashes of the previous night came back to her.

"Ep?" Gavroche's voice sounded again.

_Think you're above this life missy?_

"Should I get someone?"

_Think you're better than us?_

"Eponine, you're bleeding."

_Well you're not!_

"Can you say something, please?"

_You are low._

"Dad might come! You have to get up!"

_You are scum._

"Should I call the ambulance?"

_D'you think your fancy university friends think you're better than this?_

"I'll call Joly..."

_Do they even know who you really are?_

"Don't... call..." Eponine tried. She couldn't let them see her this way; she couldn't let them find out about her life.

"Ponine, you're bleeding and I don't know what to do..."

She heard her brother crying and was reaching her hand out to console him when suddenly she felt herself going limp and darkness took over again.

* * *

As usual, Enjolras had been up since 6am, after getting about 4 hours of sleep. He was drinking coffee and looking over notes from a lecture the other day, hoping they could help him with his next rally, enjoying the silence that came before Courfeyrac woke (usually around 10am since somehow the man had pulled some strings and gotten all afternoon classes that semester). The notes were from his political class the other day (politics was his major, journalism his minor) where the lecturer had covered some interesting points that would surely help with his latest cause.

It had always been like this, ever since Enjolras' good friend had moved in last year. They worked very well as roommates because they both spent time together in the evenings, either at the bar or the café, and sometimes they would stay together till very late at night, but in the mornings they had completely different routines, which meant they never saw each other until at least 4pm.

It was very convenient because by the evening Courfeyrac had woken himself up and Enjolras had calmed himself down and they could both deal with each other without wanting to rip off the other's head.

Yes, Enjolras liked the way things worked with his roommate, and he especially liked the way it was going this semester. It was only the 4th week of classes, but things were already going his way. He was on top of all his schoolwork, which gave him more free time to spend on the constant fight for social justice.

So maybe he was more than a little disappointed when Courfeyrac burst into the kitchen, one hand holding a phone to his left ear and the other doing up the zip on his jeans.

Enjolras had half a mind to walk over to his friend and throw the phone down on the floor – it was his _quiet time _and Courf knew that – but the other man looked so distraught and messy that the blonde decided that it might be a very important manner.

"Is she breathing? Gav, check for breath."

Okay, it was definitely a very important matter. Enjolras frowned, and got up from his chair.

"Fucking – sorry, I shouldn't have said that... yeah I know you've heard it before, but your sister... no, listen to me, she might be... Gavroche!" Courfeyrac's said the name sternly, and Enjolras had never heard his friend use that kind of tone before. "She might be pissed off when she wakes up, but we have to come over there. Which would you prefer, your sister dying or your sister being mad at you? Shit... I'm sorry, I just... can you please tell me where you guys live? Gav, come on!"

Enjolras walked over at that point, gave Courfeyrac a look and took the phone.

"Gavroche, it's Enjolras." The blonde began. "Can you explain to me what happened?"

"Eponine got caught sneaking in last night, I think." The little boy's voice was so scared and upset that it was hard to listen to him. "I just... I woke up this morning and she was lying on the couch... She's been... there's blood everywhere, it... it's never been this bad. I think someone moved her from the ground, because she can't move on her own. I tried to get her to talk but she's not breathing properly and I don't know what to do."

_How did this happen? _Enjolras briefly wondered, before reminding himself that those questions could be asked later.

"Gavroche, can you tell me where you are?"

"I'm at home."

"Where is that?"

"I promised... I promised 'Ponine I'd never say."

The man resisted the urge to growl. Gavroche was just a kid.

"This is very important, Gav."

"I can't!"

Enjolras sighed. He knew how stubborn both Gavroche and Eponine could be. He was about to hand the phone back to Courf when suddenly an idea popped into his head. "Can you meet us outside, on the pavement? Get someone to help you move her, and then you'll only have to tell us which street you live on."

There was silence for a moment. "Okay, I'll try to find someone."

Then the boy hung up.

Enjolras cursed, as he hadn't thought to ask Gavroche to stay on the phone, and started to call the boy again, when Courfeyrac's phone buzzed with a new text. Enjolras opened it without even considering that it might be personal, but thankfully, it was just Gavroche texting the address.

The taller man nodded to his friend, told him the address, and gestured that he would lead the way.

* * *

Eponine's head was still swimming, and she could barely open her eyes. She felt completely numb (_but that's good, _she told herself, _I can't feel the pain this way) _and she couldn't taste or smell a thing.

So how could she still hear her brother and sister arguing?

"Fuck off, Gav, I'm not helping her. She's gone through it a million times."

"It's much worse this time. Have you even looked at her?"

"Not really - hey, get your hands off me!"

The voices grew louder, indicating her siblings had come closer to her.

"Gav, what... Jesus Christ. What did she do to get a beating like this?"

"I don't know, but I'm really worried. Her friends are coming but they're picking her up at the corner of the street and I can't get her there."

"I can't lift her."

"We'll do it together. Please, Azelma... I'm scared and I need her to be okay. You owe her."

Silence.

"Fuck. Fine, fine, I'll do it. But only because it's this bad."

"Thank you so much, 'Zelma!"

"Alright, no need for any of that hugging bullshit. And don't call me 'Zelma."

Then the voices quickly faded away.

* * *

"Are you sure this is it?" Courfeyrac said worriedly, eyes darting around the empty streets.

"It's coming up on the left." Enjolras replied sharply from the driver's seat.

"On the left? I can't see... wait, wait, is that them?"

Enjolras slowed the car down for a moment until his eyes confirmed that Courfeyrac was right, and then he quickly drove up to the corner. He didn't bother to properly turn off the car. He and his friend got out of their seats and ran over to where Gavroche and a girl Enjolras didn't know were holding Eponine.

As soon as he was close to them, Enjolras felt like throwing up and punching something simultaneously. The unconscious girl was covered in bruises and blood. She looked so fragile and weak, so unlike how she presented herself normally. No traces of the strong and resilient girl he'd come to know could be seen – she was in pieces.

Courfeyrac took Eponine from Gavroche and the other girl, who Enjolras assumed was Azelma, the other sibling that Eponine had spoken about. She had a face that was very similar to Eponine's, just a bit sharper and meaner looking (but if Enjolras was being honest, she wasn't nearly as beautiful as Eponine – not that it mattered anyway).

"Shit, Gav, what happened?" Courfeyrac muttered, holding Eponine close to his chest and taking her over to the car as quickly as he could.

_She looks wrong in his arms. _Enjolras thought to himself, before shaking his head and realizing that he was being ridiculous and that there were far more pressing matters to deal with.

"I don't know..." Gavroche lied (badly), getting into the car and sitting next to Courf who was still holding Eponine.

Enjolras made his way over to the car quickly, and got in the driver's seat.

"We need to get to a hospital." He stated, turning on the car.

"She doesn't have insurance." His friend said from the backseat.

The blonde sighed and rubbed his face. "We have to get her some medical help."

"Joly and Combeferre."

"Courf, they're only medical students, they're not qualified-"

"They're our best chance."

"... Okay."

* * *

When Eponine woke, she almost screamed. She didn't recognize the room she was in at all – it was white floor, white walls, white sheets, grey lamp. Then she saw the medical textbooks, and noticed that Courfeyrac was sleeping on the sofa and Enjolras was staring at his hands and pacing the room, which helped her come to the conclusion that she was safe, and calmed her down a fair bit.

"What's going on?" She whispered, her voice feeling andsounding hoarse.

Enjolras stopped pacing immediately and turned to face her. His face displayed shock, then concern, then more shock.

"Eponine, you're awake. I was worried..." He trailed off.

"Where am I?" Eponine asked, feeling an ache start up in her body.

"You're at Joly and Combeferre's."

"What happened?"

Enjolras' lips tightened, and he looked at his hands again. "We were hoping you could tell us. Gavroche called us up this morning, scared shitless and talking about how he'd found you unconscious on a couch. He wouldn't tell us where you were, because he didn't want to give away your home address, but he said you were really badly injured, so he and your sister carried you to the corner of the street and Courf and I picked you up, then took you here. Joly said you have no broken bones but you're in very bad shape."

Eponine's eyes widened. "That's a lot to take in."

"I know... I'm sorry. Joly would probably be better at explaining this to you. He's taking some important test right now and he left you in our hands. Combeferre's doing the same at his uni."

"How long have I been here?"

Enjolras looked at his watch. "About 5 hours. Joly said you probably wouldn't wake up till much later."

"I'm tough." The brunette said sharply. The memories of how she got so beaten up were coming back to her now, and for the life of her, she couldn't come up with a good cover story.

"So, what happened?" Enjolras asked finally.

Eponine shut her eyes tight and tried to think. "I... I think I fell down the stairs. Someone must have moved me to the couch before Gavroche found me."

Her friend scoffed. "Yeah, sure. What's the real story here?"

"I told you the real story." Eponine said.

"No, you fed me a bunch of bullshit and I'm not falling for it."

"It's not bullshit! Jesus, Enj, what do you think happened?"

The man said nothing.

"Eponine, you're up!"

The brunette turned to see that Courfeyrac had gotten up from the couch and was smiling at her.

"So are you." She replied with a smirk.

"How are you feeling?"

Eponine shrugged. "I've been better."

Courfeyrac gave her a sympathetic look, and went to stand beside the bed she was lying in.

"She fell down a flight of stairs." Enjolras muttered from his place. She shot him a look – what had made him decide to go along with her story?

Her other friend frowned. "Doesn't sound like you."

"I'm always running into doors and tripping over at home. I'm clumsier than Grantaire when he's drunk." Eponine lied again.

"Well, you do show up to the café or the bar with bruises sometimes." Enjolras said, raising an eyebrow as if challenging her. She hadn't realized that her makeup hadn't quite covered up in those cases, but at least it seemed that Enjolras was the only one who noticed.

She didn't want to explicitly state it, but she did give him a look that clearly said 'I don't care if I'm injured, I will kick you in the nuts if you don't shut up'. Instead of shrinking back like her other friends normally did when given that look, he held her gaze.

"You guys okay?" Courf broke the silence, and the staring match.

"Fine. I'm feeling much better, actually."

_Okay, that's only a white lie. _She thought to herself.

"Do you want to try and get up?" Courfeyrac suggested.

Just as she was about to reply, Enjolras cut her off. "I don't think that's such a good idea."

"I'm resilient, Enj, you know that." Eponine tried for a light-hearted tone. "I've been through worse."

He frowned even harder at that.

"Come on, I have to leave here sometime." Her eyes found a clock on the wall that read '12:48'. "Shit, I missed my lecture."

"I called the university." Enjolras said, not meeting her eyes.

"Oh, uh... Thanks." Eponine said. How had he remembered her schedule? "Lucky I don't have work today. Anyway, I need to get home soon."

She was dreading the thought of leaving the safe comfort of her friends, but she had to get home and clean up the mess she'd made with her father before he decided to take it out on Azelma or Gavroche.

"Don't be stupid, Ep, you can't go home." Courfeyrac told her.

"Fuck you, Courf, I can take care of myself." Eponine had intended on saying the words in a jokey manner but they came out a bit more stern than she'd expected.

"I know that. Look, we don't know much about your home life, but we've been talking to Gavroche, and we've decided you can't go back to that house."

"Courfeyrac, that sounds a lot like an order, and you know I don't take orders from anyone."

_Except your asshole of a dad, of course. _The more cynical part of her sneered.

"He's not trying to order you around, but if you fell down the stairs and couldn't rely on your parents to get you to a hospital, then you can't live there." Enjolras stepped forward.

"Where the fuck am I supposed to stay, then?"

Enjolras and Courfeyrac shared a look.

"With us."

* * *

**A/N: What? What is this? Proper E/E interaction? WHAT?!**

**Hah... but in all seriousness, I hope this was believable. Obviously Enjolras is kind of OOC in this story because at some point he's probably going to have romantic feelings for something other than Patria (_gasp_) and in the brick, he was kind of portrayed as asexual. Some people say he was gay for Grantaire, which I find hard to believe to be honest. I'm not hating on that ship – in fact, I rather like one-sided R/E – but if we're going off the brick, I just don't find it believable that Enjolras would feel the same.**

**Then again, my OTP never even had any real interaction, so I should probably keep my mouth shut and keep writing crack fic.**

**What do you guys think about Eponine moving in with Enjolras and Courfeyrac? Of course, she technically hasn't agreed yet, but spoiler alert: she will, at least for a while.**

**Xx**

**Abigailbelleofkilronan**


	10. Chapter 10

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Les Miserables.**

**A/N: Ooh, chapter ten. I decided to write another drama class chapter, because I totally wimped out on the last one and wrote like a paragraph on the actual class, but I was just introducing it, so I hope this is a bit better.**

**Also, I was wondering if anyone would be interesting in beta-ing this story, and possibly some other stories I'm writing at the moment?**

* * *

Eponine refused Enjolras and Courfeyrac's suggestion adamantly at first – her friends already did so much for her, and this was just too much – but of course, they didn't let up.

The girl told her friends that she couldn't leave Gavroche on his own until her own brother betrayed her and said that he wanted her to move in with Courfeyrac and Enjolras. Eventually they got the rest of the group involved, and soon Eponine was fighting a losing battle that she wasn't sure she wanted to win.

She argued with them all endlessly over the weekend, but by Sunday, she had agreed to stay with them, if only for a week or two (Enjolras had said a month, but he didn't need to know that she planned on leaving as soon as her injuries were completely healed).

Gavroche helped her pack up her stuff one morning when their father was so hung over he couldn't move and her mother was out shopping. Eponine only packed the essentials (clothes, a small safe where all her money was kept – a bank account was out of the question – her shitty laptop), as well as some sentimental stuff (a photo album of her, Gav and Azelma as kids – all the photos with their parents had been thrown out – and a Swiss army knife 'Parnasse had given her for her 16th birthday that she liked for some reason).

In the end, it all fitted into a box Gavroche found in the inn's kitchen. When Enjolras drove up to the corner of their street, she hugged Gavroche tightly and told him to hang tight, whispering that she'd be back once she was better. He gave her a look that was surprisingly stern for a 10 year old and replied that she would stay there until she found an apartment.

Enjolras came over to open her door at that moment, so Eponine couldn't say what she wanted to, but she gave her brother an odd look and kissed him on the cheek. Did he really think she would stay there longer than a week?

He could get the strangest ideas in his head sometimes.

* * *

Upon waking on Monday morning, Eponine had to use very slow breaths to calm herself down once she realized she had slept in such a position that every injury she had was affected. It didn't help that she was in an unfamiliar room. She had slept in Courf's bed just for that night, because he had spent the night with a 'friend' of his (which meant he'd slept over at a one night stand's place), but today she was going to help Enjolras clean out the small but cozy room they currently used to put junk in.

That was to be her bedroom for however long she chose to stay there (which she planned to not be long).

However, she and her blonde friend had a drama class to attend before they could think about that, so Eponine got herself out of bed and changed into actual clothes, having slept in a ragged shirt and small shorts the night before.

Once she looked slightly decent, she made her way into the kitchen, where Enjolras sat at the table, sipping from a mug and reading intently.

The clock on the wall read '7:40', which was actually a bit later than the girl normally woke. She walked over to the kitchen counter to pour herself some coffee that Enjolras had probably brewed earlier that morning when the man in question jumped and almost shrieked a bit, scattering his papers across the table.

"Eponine." He said after trying to regain his composure (and failing slightly).

"Sorry, did I scare you?" She asked, trying to sound apologetic and not like she was laughing at him.

Enjolras almost blushed. "I'm just not used to having anyone up as early as me in this apartment."

"Courf has late nights, huh?"

"_Very _late nights. I don't see how he functions, honestly. I can't get through the day if I'm not up at the crack of dawn."

Eponine laughed. "That sounds a bit crazy."

"Why are you up this early if it's crazy, then? Did I wake you? I thought I was being quiet."

"No, I always wake up early, but I don't exactly _like _it."

Her friend gave her a strange look.

"Never mind." She said, before turning her attention to the pot of coffee on the counter. "Now, be honest – do you make good coffee?"

Eponine often found herself surprised at the things she didn't know about her friends, particularly Enjolras.

"Courfeyrac doesn't mind it."

"Courfeyrac drinks anything."

"You're thinking of Grantaire."

They shared a laugh, but Enjolras caught himself before Eponine had stopped.

"I... I need to stop doing that." The man frowned at the table.

Eponine quirked an eyebrow. "Doing what?"

"Saying things like that about my friends."

"Everyone says shit about their friends."

"But Grantaire takes what I say seriously."

"_You _take what you say seriously. It's only when you mean what you say that Grantaire gets upset." Eponine explained.

Enjolras looked up at her as if she'd asked him to stop writing letters to important politicians. "So I should stop meaning what I say?"

"No, just stop saying things that are hurtful, if you really mean them." The brunette fought the urge to roll her eyes. Wasn't that a bit obvious?

Silence fell in the kitchen, until Enjolras motioned for Eponine to pour herself a mug of coffee. The girl did it tentatively – she could survive a lot of rough situations, but drinking bad coffee was not one of them.

When she took a sip, though, she found it to be quite good. She told Enjolras this and he cracked a small smile as he continued to read his book.

_Maybe spending a week here won't be so bad. _Eponine thought as she blew on her drink.

* * *

Eponine and Enjolras ended up walking to the university for their drama class. It took about half an hour from Enjolras and Courfeyrac's apartment, but they had a lot of time to spare, having left an hour before the class was due to start, and the walk had a lot of nice scenery to look at.

"Do you walk to class a lot?" Eponine asked at one point during their trip.

"If it's warm." Enjolras replied, not looking her in the eye.

And that concluded their conversation until they arrived at the Drama building.

* * *

The pair arrived to class five minutes before it started, so Eponine spent a bit of time assessing the other students in the class.

It was a group of about 20, and it looked like there were a few more girls than boys. She hadn't seen any of them out of this class, so she assumed they were art students and therefore spent most of their time in completely separate buildings to Eponine.

She didn't know any of their names, even though the last two lessons had been spent getting to know the other students, so she resolved to not interact with any of them unless she had to.

Fantine arrived, just as Eponine was watching a pair of girls stare at Enjolras and giggle, and that commanded the whole room's attention.

"Alright! In case any of you hadn't noticed, this is our third lesson, and yes, we will be starting on chemistry today."

Eponine snorted quietly. Fantine always started the classes so abruptly; it was almost unsettling.

"Today is going to be about finding that particular person who you have good onstage chemistry with. I guarantee that there is someone in this room who you work especially well with. You just have to find them. It might be a bit of a frustrating process, but finding that person is extremely important." The woman looked around the room. "I gather that some of you know each other already, and that you're probably going to be tempted to pair up with someone you know, but chemistry is really about connecting with people, especially people you don't know very well. Sometimes you find chemistry with a good friend, but often it's with a stranger. Keeping all that in mind, please choose a partner for our first activity. Nobody's away today, so we should have 11 pairs."

Eponine looked around the group, deciding to follow Fantine's suggestion and pair with someone she didn't know. She caught the eye of a kind of cute guy who had stubble and a crooked smile. He cocked his head and gestured for her to come over.

"Blaise." He said when she went up to him.

"Eponine."

He chuckled. "Yeah, I know. I remembered from last lesson."

"Oh." She hadn't expected that. "Sorry I didn't remember you."

"I wouldn't expect you to, with a boyfriend like that." Blaise said, pointing to Enjolras, who was standing next to one of the giggly girls from before and looking very displeased about having said girl as a partner.

_But she looks like she's about to start drooling,_ Eponine noted with a bit of annoyance, before Blaise's words sunk in.

"What?" She said loudly. "No, no, no, Enjolras is _not _my... we're... he's not... No."

Blaise held his arms up in mock defense. "Okay, okay, he's not your boyfriend. Touchy subject, huh?"

Eponine blew out a long breath and laughed. "No, not at all, he's just not into that kind of thing."

"Girls?"

"Dating."

Just then, Fantine began speaking again.

"I'm going to rotate you all around a couple times and you'll do this activity with every partner you have. If I see something that I think is working, I'll stop that pair and they can sit out and watch the others. The partner you work best with today will be your partner for most of this semester, so hopefully you get along well. As for the activity, it's a simple concept but a difficult exercise. I know a lot of you are beginners but don't give up just because you might not get it a couple of times."

She then explained the activity. Each person had to think of an experience in their lives when they desperately wanted to say something but couldn't get it out (Eponine had no trouble with this part), and then they had to silently communicate with their partner. Fantine said it was all about body movement and facial expressions. No voices were allowed; they simply had to say what they needed to get out without actually _saying _anything.

Eponine turned to Blaise, and gestured for him to start them off. He began pacing and waving his arms about as though he was trying to hit something. The girl tried walking up to him and stopping him, grabbing his hands and looking into his eyes. The words built up inside her, begging to come out.

_Marius, I..._

And then he screwed up his face and grabbed her arms and started shaking her. She wasn't sure what he was trying to communicate, but the exercise didn't seem to be working for either one of them. Also, she was still sore and his rough contact wasn't helping things.

The girl's suspicions that they didn't work well together were confirmed when Fantine came up, broke them apart and said they should move onto different partners.

Eponine sighed. It was going to be a long process.

* * *

Eponine went through another four partners, but none of them had worked properly. Fantine was moving more and more pairs to the side, and Eponine was growing impatient. It wasn't that hard to have a fucking connection with someone. It hadn't been half bad with that short girl before, but the teacher still shook her head again and again.

They were down to six people when Fantine suddenly gestured for Eponine to come and stand in front of Enjolras, who had also yet to find the right partner

"I'm aware that you two are friends, but just give it a go." The teacher started walking away, before turning back around for a moment. "Try to focus on the other person as well as yourself. You're not just getting your own point across – you're listening to what they have to say too."

Eponine turned to properly face Enjolras, and they both took a moment to look at each other and breathe.

"Let's do this." Eponine said finally.

She started moving, slowly circling Enjolras but never looking at him. She felt tension growing, pushing them apart and pulling them together at the same time. He caught her by the elbow, and when she turned to look him in the eyes, he had a look on his face that she'd never seen before. It was a mixture of anguish and guilt.

Enjolras ripped his hand away from her quickly, and then clenched it into a fist. He dropped his eyes to the floor, and then brought them back up.

Eponine could tell Enjolras was finding it difficult to say what he wanted to say, so she decided to take over. She tried to hold his gaze, though it was difficult as his eyes kept flickering away, as she wondered what to do.

_Marius, I..._

She slowly moved her hand and rested it just above her heart. She held it there for a few second and then took it off. Before she even knew what she was going, her hand was reaching across and resting above Enjolras' heart.

His eyes finally locked with hers.

Enjolras' chest was hard and kind of warm, and Eponine could feel his pulse. They were so close, closer than they'd ever really physically been. Eponine never really thought that her friend could be this intimate with someone. Just then, she realized that she'd let her hand linger on his chest for a bit longer than she should have. She reminded herself that it was a drama class activity, and it was all just acting, before trying to focus on getting her message across. Her mind felt a bit more relaxed, and the words came easier than they had with anyone else.

_Marius, I love you. I love you, but..._

Eponine took her hand back immediately, partly because of the look on Enjolras' face and partly because she hadn't expected that what she really wanted to say was more than just 'Marius, I love you'. When had it ever been more than that?

Enjolras finally started trying to convey his message. He took her hands and held them in his, pulling her a bit closer to him. He looked at their joined hands and then looked at her. Then he dropped to his knees. He rested his head on her hands and his whole body sighed.

Eponine froze for a moment. It seemed like they had gone from barely even hugging or kissing on the cheek to _this _and it was frightening how right it felt to be so close to him. She wondered briefly if he felt the same way.

_Of course he doesn't, you stupid girl. _Eponine scolded herself. _You're just starved for human contact. It's a fucking drama exercise. Get yourself together._

Suddenly Enjolras looked up at her again. This time, his message was clear. _I'm sorry. _Then he got back up and let go of her hands.

Eponine was now determined to get her message properly across.

She brought her hand to her chest again, but this time she grabbed a handful of her t-shirt. She then ripped her hand away, letting go of the t-shirt but keeping the illusion of grasping onto something.

Eponine took Enjolras' hand and wrapped it around her fist (this time she didn't let it linger), and then slid her hand out of his, letting her fingers relax as though she'd given him whatever she'd been holding.

She then wrapped her arms around herself and stared at her feet. She looked up to give Enjolras a hard glare but when she did, he was looking at her with pity, and she realized that in this metaphorical situation, he had not taken anything from her. She had willingly given it to him, and it was a stupid decision, and she found herself wishing she hadn't done it, even though it was just a fucking drama exercise.

Eponine frowned, annoyed with herself.

_Marius, I love you, but I don't _want _to love you._

What? Was that what she was trying to get across the whole time?

Before she could go into panic mode, the sound of applause started up.

She and Enjolras turned at the same time to see Fantine, and even some of their classmates, clapping.

"We've found a perfect match, it seems." Fantine said with a slight smirk. "And just in time. Our lesson is over, but next week, it'll go for longer. The length of these classes is going to start changing, so make sure you check your schedule before making plans on Monday evenings!"

Eponine was so grateful she could've hugged the woman, but instead, she quickly retrieved her bag from the chair she'd left it on.

Without a single glance at her friend (and temporary flat mate), Eponine ran out of the room.

* * *

**A/N: Oh jeebus, I hope this wasn't too out of character. You guys should understand that this was just Eponine and Enjolras being good actors. They don't have actual romantic feelings for each other yet. They were drawing on past experience.**

**BUT, that's a bit of a breakthrough for Ep, right? In case you hadn't noticed, she doesn't really realize that her love for Marius is sort of pointless until her 'On My Own' moment in the musical (or just her epiphany in the book), so this was sort of the same thing but a lot less dramatic... and obviously, no rain.**

**Question: why is it _always _raining in the musical version/movie version of Les Mis? That shit is not coincidental. They must all be doing some sort of rain dance in between scenes.**

**Xx**


	11. Chapter 11

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Les Miserables.**

**A/N: FIRST OF ALL, a HUGE thanks to love-never-dies-90 who is now the beta for this story, and is already doing an AWESOME job! In the words of that maid chick from Mary Poppins, 'the position has been filled'.**

**I apologize in advance for this stupid filler/not-very-important-to-the-plot chapter, but I think we need a bit of a breather from all that tension last chapter, and the tension to come in the chapter following this one...**

**You'll see what I mean.**

* * *

Eponine rushed down the hall of the school until she found herself out the front of the girl's bathroom. She went inside and shut the door quickly, before relaxing against it and sinking to the floor.

What the fuck was _that_?

Not only had she had some kind of epiphany about Marius (why was she always having epiphanies?), her drama class actually thought there was some kind of chemistry between her and Enjolras. Eponine and the man of stone? Not bloody likely!

"The whole world is going crazy." She muttered to herself.

Throughout the years, many girls (and guys) had tried to win over Enjolras. Whether it was flirting, flowers or composing music, they all had their little ways of trying to worm into his heart, yet none of them succeeded. He would politely inform them that he wasn't interested - sometimes over and over again, when it came to those who couldn't take no for an answer - and get on with his life. Combeferre had known Enjolras since they were 8, and he had never seen the blonde show as much as a sliver of interest in love. He just wasn't the type to connect with people in a romantic or sexual way, and that was that. Eponine had never really thought about it that much.

But now it was seriously messing with her. To start, Grantaire had talked about Enjolras 'looking at her' in a more than friendly way just a few weeks ago. Eponine had been sure that her best friend was seeing things, because she very much doubted that she would be the kind of person to interest Enjolras (if it was even possible to do so), but Grantaire had always been good at reading people - unlike Eponine - even when he was almost too drunk to stand. It was a possibility that Enjolras spared a glance her way on those rare occasions when she wore clothes that actually looked good on her, but even then he was probably just admiring the fabric or something along those lines.

Being so in-sync with him today had completely messed with how she thought of him. He had been completely open and vulnerable, and Eponine had felt like she was seeing a completely different side of him, as though they were sharing things that only lovers should share, which was baffling to the girl. It was like every thing she thought she knew about him had been tossed out the window because of that one short but meaningful activity.

The fact that she had been the one to connect with him? Even weirder.

_It was just acting. _Eponine decided. _Enjolras doesn't buy into that deep connection bullshit, and neither do I. That kind of thing is what Marius goes on and on about._

Eponine flashed back to the speech Marius had given when Grantaire had scoffed at the former man's talk of 'love at first sight'.

He'd stood on a chair, looking very much like Enjolras did when he gave speeches about social justice, and preached to them all about how fantastic love was.

"When you meet that person... It's magical." He'd sighed, looking like a lovesick fool as always. "I never bought into it that much before but now... I truly apologize for not listening to you when you spoke of it, Jehan, because if I had, I would've had some idea of the feeling Cosette has given me. I might have been more prepared, but instead, I was just a blubbering idiot! I have never been so embarrassed as I was on the night I met my girlfriend, but I also never been as lucky or amazed as I was on that night. The world stops – it seems cliché, but it really does – and you know that you and that person are meant to be together, and that you'll do whatever you have to just to be with them."

"I think even Jehan would consider that the talk of a stalker." Eponine had muttered. She thought it was under her breath but all of her friends had heard her and erupted in laughter, leaving Marius to look at her sadly and get down from the chair.

Eponine remembered feeling so guilty that night that she had almost agreed to befriend Cosette, but the small part of her heart that actually tried to look out for her when it came to Marius told her to let him mope.

If only that part of her had been dominant on the day she agreed to meet up with her best friend's girlfriend.

* * *

Eponine ended up meeting Jehan when she left the bathroom, and while she had planned on walking home, he had been told of injuries and insisted on her joining him instead.

"How was your drama class? I have to say, I was a bit surprised when Enjolras told me you agreed." Jehan said when they were in the back of a taxi he'd hailed.

"I was worried at first, but it's not that bad." She replied.

"And you're working on chemistry?"

"How did you know?"

"Enjolras talked about it a few weeks ago, though he didn't go into detail."

Eponine nodded. "Yeah, we have to be partnered up and work on building chemistry or something like that. I think we're also putting on a performance but we haven't started working on that yet."

Jehan almost squeaked. "You have to invite the group!"

"Uh, I don't know..."

The thought of her friends watching her try and fail to act made her shudder.

"No, I insist."

The brunette did not reply. She would simply have to tell Enjolras to keep quiet about whatever they ended up performing so that nobody in the group would attend.

"So, who's your partner?"

Eponine had been dreading this question despite herself. Though it was a seemingly simple answer, there were so many complicated parts of it. Why do you and Enjolras, of all people, have chemistry? Why has this completely changed your view of him? Are you just thinking of Marius when you do scenes with him? _Why Enjolras?_

"Enjolras."

Jehan grinned. "That must be interesting."

The girl internally breathed a sigh of relief. He wasn't bombarding her with questions just yet.

"He's not so bad. According to our teacher, we work very well together. We have good chemistry or something." Eponine said, trying to appear casual. It was bound to come up at some point, so she'd chosen to get it over with.

Her friend spluttered a bit. "_What?_"

"What? What's the matter?"

"I... I would have never guessed that in a million years, and I've considered all possible couples in our group!" Jehan said loudly.

The taxi driver was giving them a strange look from the front seat.

"Jehan, it's not a big deal." Eponine insisted.

"Not a big deal? This is Enjolras we're talking about. Anyone who has chemistry with him, onstage or off, needs to be shipped off to a medical institute and tested for magical properties."

"He's not heartless, Jehan. You know he cares about his friends more than anything." The girl snapped.

"I didn't mean it that way. I just... I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-" Her friend began, voice getting higher and more panicked.

"Jehan." Eponine interrupted. "I'm sorry. It's fine, I know you mean well. I didn't mean to snap. It's just... Y'know, you're meant to be the romantic. The one who has faith that everyone can find love."

"I guess I'm just getting a bit tired of being perpetually optimistic." Jehan said quietly.

Eponine turned to face him. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." He sighed. "Eloise broke up with me."

"Oh, god... Jehan, I'm sorry, that sucks." The girl took his hand.

"I'm fine. I kind of saw it coming. She was working more and more and complaining, and we hadn't..." He coughed. "Y'know... Been intimate for a while. You know how it took me ages to win her over?"

Eponine nodded. They had been hearing about it for weeks, the endless Jehan and what's-her-face saga, but nobody had known that their relationship was suffering. They had assumed that a relationship with such a long build up was bound to last at least a few months.

"I think that was what she really liked. The chase, or something along those lines. But when it came to a domestic relationship, she just kind of lost interest, even though I tried to keep things passionate."

"She's an idiot."

Jehan gave a small smile. "I get where she's coming from. The passion is one of the best parts of the build-up to a relationship, but I think just... having someone... it's such an amazing feeling, knowing that someone out there is thinking of you as you're thinking of them. Love is such an incredible thing. I do still think that... and I do believe that both you and Enjolras will find love. Of course, Enjolras may find his love in a very close friend, rather than a girlfriend or boyfriend, and that would be good as well. I know that we all assume he's asexual, and I have nothing against that theory, but sometimes I think that he could fall in love one day. It'd be slow, I'm sure, but it could happen."

Eponine coughed. Love was _not _her forte. She was sure she was in love with Marius (though apparently she didn't want to be) but the way he and Jehan spoke of love made it sound like it was some life-changing experience that made everything better. For her, it had just hurt like hell, so she had to wonder what she was doing wrong.

Before she could get too stuck inside her head, Jehan spoke again.

"Sorry, I know you're not that interested in romance and love. Although, like Enjolras, I'm sure the day will come for you."

The brunette girl frowned. Surely Jehan realised that she was in love with Marius. The whole group (except Marius, ironically) had figured it out a while back - didn't that include him?

She was about to say something about it, when she realised that he was still looking down. There she was, about to go on and on about fucking Pontmercy when he'd just been dumped!

"Do you want to do the old ice-cream and drinks routine? Only, maybe not so much drinking for me, because last time I got drunk on sugar and alcohol I ended up drunk-dialing Marius and that was a bit of a disaster." Eponine said.

Her friend grinned widely. "I'll be fine. You need to relax and take care of yourself, at least until you've recovered from your fall."

"I know. But you should take care of yourself too. I can't believe I'm suggesting this, but call Courf or Grantaire. They're good with this kind of stuff."

Jehan nodded, and they spent the rest of their taxi ride on much lighter subjects.

* * *

When Eponine finally got home (could she call it home?), she was exhausted. She hadn't realized how hard it was to get around normally while recovering from injuries and all she wanted was a nice hot dinner already made and a long night of sleep.

Unfortunately, the apartment was completely dark (Enjolras had talked about going straight to the café after drama and Courfeyrac could have been in another country for all anyone knew) and she had to make dinner with whatever was in the cupboards, which was probably not much.

She was also reminded that she had to catch up on the reading for her gender studies class – she'd missed the last lecture due to her injury – when Cosette texted her and asked if she had done it yet.

Eponine turned off her phone, took out some soup and put it into a bowl to be microwaved, before starting on the huge amount of reading she had to complete and waiting for her 'gourmet dinner' to finish heating up.

As she read, she couldn't help but let her mind wander back to what had happened in her drama class.

The realization that she didn't actually _want_ to be in love with Marius, her newfound 'chemistry' with Enjolras... It was all a bit overwhelming, especially when she thought about all the classwork she needed to catch up on, and how she needed to figure out how to keep Gavroche safe while she was temporarily gone.

As Eponine considered the last problem, she wondered how she was going to escape the friendly but intense clutches of her friends. She supposed it would be easy to just tell them that there was no point in her staying at their house if they weren't ever going to be there, but that just seemed a bit cruel. But she couldn't stay there for too long. Her brother needed her, and besides, she already felt like she was getting in their way and she'd only been there one night.

The microwave made a noise, indicating that her food was ready, and she decided to push all her problems to the back of her mind and focus on her book and her soup for the moment.

* * *

**A/N: ****A little bit of Jehan/Ep interaction (that I didn't actually plan but whatever, Jehan's a sweetie), a little bit of emotion... and not much Enjolras. I will make up for it in the next chapter though, I promise! Hope you enjoyed.**


	12. Chapter 12

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Les Miserables.**

**A/N: I'm sorry this was later than usual, going through some stuff at the moment. Thankfully this chapter was very fun to write, or at least, the second half was, and it got my mind off some things. **

**I put some more Enjolras POV in there for shits and gigs. Are you guys enjoying hearing from him, or do you prefer just seeing things from Ep's point of view? Let me know.**

**Huge thanks to love-never-dies-90, my beta, for putting up with me completely losing track of what I've already written and making sure I don't contradict myself all the time.**

* * *

Eponine managed to avoid Enjolras for about a week, making sure to get up earlier than him (which was quite difficult) and leave the café before he arrived (also quite difficult, as he spent a fair bit of his time there). It had taken her a while to completely wrap her head around the fact that she apparently had some weird kind of chemistry with him. Of course, she was sure that it wasn't _actual _chemistry, but even the fake kind was overwhelming.

It had taken Enjolras a bit longer to notice what was going on than it would've taken any of her other friends, as he had his mind stuck on schoolwork and campaigns and making sure his parents still thought he was going to be a lawyer. The group had found out about that last part, and had a big conversation about it, which had turned into a full-scale argument when the man in question realised that his family was the only thing anyone would focus on at their meetings. As per usual, that all blew over.

But to Eponine's disappointment, her friend eventually confronted her and demanded to know why she wasn't talking to him. It had taken her the better part of an hour to explain that she wasn't mad, just feeling a bit overwhelmed in terms of their relationship.

"What relationship?" He had asked, eyebrow quirked.

"Just... That drama class, where we did that activity on chemistry... it threw me off. You're the last person I would ever expect to..." Eponine had replied.

"To what?"

"To connect with."

"Do you really think I'm incapable of-" Enjolras had started to say, his face an odd mix of upset and angry.

"No! No, that's not what I'm saying. But it was weird, right?"

He had nodded after a moment. "That's what actors do, though. Good actors, at least. Marius said that you told Cosette you're interested in that kind of thing."  
"He did _what _now?"

"Uh... Cosette let it slip to Marius and then felt really bad about it because she thought it seemed personal and didn't want to ruin your friendship before it had even started. She told Marius not to say anything, but being Marius..."

"He told you. He's such a dick."

"Yes, but please don't be mad. I, for one, think that becoming an actor is a very achievable dream, especially in your case."

Eponine had gotten defensive then, for no particular reason. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, you're a very good actor Eponine."

"You don't have to lie to me just because you're feeling guilty that you let it slip that Marius said something he shouldn't have for the billionth time. You know I hate liars, Enjolras."

He gave her a strange look at that point. "I'm not lying. Have I ever not been honest with you?"

"No, you're very honest. Sometimes so honest that you come across as a bit of a -"

"Okay, so you know I'm not bullshitting you here."

"I'm not a good-"

"Shut up, 'Ponine."

"Did you just call me 'Ponine?"

"... I said, shut up."

And that had been the end of that (very odd) conversation.

* * *

Their fourth drama class had been very ordinary, but nothing went horrendously wrong, and Eponine found that she worked quite well with her friend, not just in terms of chemistry, but also with work-shopping ideas and improvising together. She realised that the thought of working with him each week was not so daunting after she'd gotten over the fact that he thought she was actually an okay actor, and that he was one too.

They still had some weird moments in the class, but they were getting better at ignoring who they really were and getting lost in whatever characters they were playing. Eponine found that she was almost sad to leave the drama class on that Monday evening, but she talked with Enjolras as they walked home together, and spent the rest of the night clearing out the spare room.

* * *

Eponine woke the next morning to find she had fallen asleep on the couch, instead of in the spare room that she and Enjolras had stayed up till 1am cleaning. She also had a blanket thrown over her and a pillow under head, neither of which she had gotten for herself, which was a bit creepy.

On the plus side, her body wasn't as sore as it had been the past few days, which she was very thankful for because it was Tuesday and she had a long shift at work to get through.

She slowly got up, wiping her eyes and trying to shake herself out of the sleepy haze she seemed to be stuck in. The apartment was quiet, and the kitchen was empty, which meant that Courfeyrac was still asleep, as always, and Enjolras was probably out for a walk.

Eponine started to make herself some coffee, but her limbs felt a bit stiff, despite the fact that her injuries were 10 times better than they had been a week ago, so she decided to have a quick shower to wake herself up.

She made her way to the small but impeccably clean bathroom (Eponine was seriously beginning to wonder if Joly snuck in and cleaned it at night, because she hadn't seen Courfeyrac or Enjolras so much as change the towels) and shed her clothes – well, pajamas, which she vaguely remembered changing into last night before crashing on the couch. The bathroom door didn't have a lock, but Eponine doubted that the boys wouldn't hear the shower and know not to come in. They may have both had their idiotic moments, but surely they weren't _that _stupid.

* * *

Enjolras had gotten up an hour earlier than usual, after a strange dream where Marius left Cosette for Eponine, and they spent all their time making out on top of a table in the café. It left him feeling very uncomfortable and strangely annoyed at Marius, though the man hadn't actually done anything (well, he had actually made out with Cosette on a table in the back room of the café when he thought nobody was there, but that was at least a month ago).

Eager to forget it, Enjolras busied himself in the kitchen, making coffee and toast. Just as he was about to start on a journalism essay, he heard a little snuffle that had come from the living room.

Upon inspection, he found that Eponine had fallen asleep on the couch. She was stretched out on it, hair almost shielding her face. She was only wearing a singlet and some (obscenely short) shorts, which didn't leave a whole lot to the imagination.

Enjolras couldn't stop his eyes from wandering. Though she had been a bit too skinny when they'd met, she was now at a bit of a healthier weight. Her face was softer, her hair looked shinier, and her body was almost a work of art. Even though the girl covered up most of the time, most of the group had noticed that she had a pretty amazing figure (her waist was so tiny that Enjolras couldn't believe it sometimes) and sometimes, when she wasn't there, obviously, someone would mention it and they would all get a bit carried away.

Except Enjolras, of course. He would never discuss her body like it was an object to admire.

_You literally just described it as a work of art, idiot. _He thought to himself as he realised that he was staring at her.

She shuffled in her sleep. Her singlet's neckline moved down slightly, and his eyes followed it.

"Fucking pervert." He muttered to himself, rushing out of the lounge room. He quickly found a spare pillow and blanket, and tried not to look at Eponine as he made her more comfortable, and far less tempting.

Jesus, what was he, a rapist? Just because there was a – very attractive – woman sleeping on his couch in her pajamas didn't mean he had the right to look at her that way! Her being his good friend made it even worse.

Enjolras left the room again, deciding he wouldn't go back in until she was awake and fully dressed. He opened up his laptop and tried to start writing, but the thought of Eponine lying on the couch in the other room was incredibly distracting.

_What is happening to me? I'm never like this around girls. Ever._

He put his face in his hands with a defeated sigh, and then resolved to go out and take a long as possible to get breakfast.

_Get a grip, Enjolras._

* * *

Eponine spent a bit longer in the shower than she should have, mostly because it was so refreshing. She just stood there under the hot water, feeling instantly better as her stress rolled off her body and went down the drain. She got so caught up in the steam and the water that when it started to go cold, she had barely started to rinse out the conditioner.

Eponine turned off the water, hair still soapy, and stepped out of the shower. She reached for a towel and wrapped it around herself, before walking over to the sink and turning on the hot tap. She attempted to rinse some of the conditioner out, but she had to get herself into a very awkward position to do it.

After a few minutes, she decided that she'd done the best she could, and turned off the tap. She got another towel and used it to dry her hair.

She was almost done when something slammed into her and she felt her body jerk back until she was stuck between the wall and what appeared to be a man.

Eponine raised her head to look at the man, and found herself staring into Enjolras' eyes.

Immediately he jumped back, and she noticed a dark stain on the shirt in his hand, before noticing that he was _naked _from the waist up, and fuck, had he always had such a nice chest?

He noticed her clothing as well, or at least, her _lack _of clothing, and immediately turned around. She caught herself staring at his back muscles and scolded herself internally before looking up at the ceiling.

They spoke at the same time

"The floor had water and I slipped-"

"My conditioner didn't wash out-"

"I spilt coffee on myself and-"

"The bathroom door doesn't-"

"Sorry."

"Sorry."

There was a moment of silence that seemed to stretch on forever, and Eponine began to wonder why he hadn't left yet.

"I'm gonna go get changed in my room." He said, as if reading her mind. She let him leave without a word, not daring to look anywhere but the ceiling until she heard the door closing.

"Just _one _day without something going wrong would be great." Eponine said to nobody in particular.

* * *

Enjolras almost sprinted to his room, entered and slammed the door behind him.

He put a hand on the wall and leaned into it, letting out a sigh. He couldn't shake that image from his head. He'd been shirtless and pressed up against Eponine, who had only been wearing a towel.

Why was this happening to him? Why was this distraction coming now? He couldn't just freak out every time he saw her without every inch of her body covered up! She was his friend. He didn't have any say in what she wore, which was how it was meant to be, but he didn't think he could handle seeing her in anything less than a full length poncho after what had happened this morning.

But of course, he would just have to struggle through, especially since they had a particularly long drama class next session, and they were partners, as well as friends. Enjolras wasn't interested in romance. His friends knew it, his family knew it, _he _knew it. This was just a stupid accident that was messing with his brain.

_This is so not my day._

* * *

**A/N: I don't know what's going on in my brain right now. I never meant for Enjolras to start being in the 'denial' stage of attraction. Is it moving too fast? Please be brutally honest, guys. I'm really worried that this is too out of character for Enjolras.**


	13. Chapter 13

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Les Miserables.**

**A/N: Okay, so this is a bit of a filler type thing where we have a bit of Courf/Ep interaction, a bit of group fun and the tiniest bit of drama class at the end... alsoit'skindashortandI'msorry!**

**As per usual, I am eternally thankful to love-never-dies-90, my amazing beta.**

* * *

"Eponine, what the hell is going on with you?"

Eponine looked up from her book to see Courfeyrac staring at her from his seat on the kitchen counter. She raised her eyebrows and didn't answer him.

"I mean it, Ep. You haven't done anything but study and work and sleep the entire week. Why are you being so _boring_? We already have Enjolras for that!" Her friend exclaimed.

"Enjolras gets very good marks and pays his half of the rent way before you do, so he must be doing something right."

Courfeyrac rolled his eyes. "Well, I don't have my parents to shower me with money."

"But somehow you can pay for weekly games of laser tag."

"I've explained this already. If you have a membership, it's a dollar a game on Saturdays."

"Still ridiculous."

"If having fun is wrong, I don't want to be right."

"At least you're not setting yourself up for disappointment, then."

"Quit trying to get me off subject!"

Eponine chuckled. "But it's so easy."

Courfeyrac hopped off his perch and grabbed Eponine's book from her hands. She looked up at him in disbelief.

"Come on, we're going out."

"Courf, I have drama class at 4 and I have to get reading done for tomorrow's class before that."

"You've been reading that book all weekend. You have _got _to be done with it by now."

Eponine paused, not sure what to say. It was true that she had been using the book as an excuse to stay away from the group (or at least, one particular person in the group who she refused to think about, even if his shirtless torso had been overtaking her mind lately), but she never thought _Courf _would be the one to call her out on it.

"Come on, can we at least go to the café? You haven't been there all week."

Knowing that Courfeyrac would go on for hours if she didn't join him, the brunette snatched her book back, slammed it shut and put it on the table.

"Only for an hour."

"You're the best." Courfeyrac grinned.

"Yeah, I know."

* * *

Eponine and Courfeyrac made their way through the café, waving at the owner, who knew them well. They reached the back room and opened the door slowly (if they didn't give any warning, it was possible they would walk in on something very personal and _very _gross between Marius and Cosette, or Joly and his girlfriend, or whoever else in their group just couldn't keep it in their pants until they got home – even Combeferre and Jehan had once been caught on the table together, but _apparently _that was a once-off thing).

Everyone was there that night, even Cosette, and there was a (slightly drunken) cheer from most of the group when Eponine and Courfeyrac entered.

"Eponine!" Grantaire said loudly from his place, lying on the floor. "You haven't been here all week! I've missed you."

"I've missed you too, R." Eponine chuckled. She scanned the room. Joly and Combeferre were deep in conversation, and Jehan was sketching in his book, looking carefully at Cosette who appeared to be posing for him. Eponine noticed that Marius was watching his girlfriend with a frown, and made a note to talk to him when she was drunk enough to handle his whining. Enjolras was sitting on the far end of the table, frowning down at his paper but not actually doing anything.

Eponine looked away quickly. Every time she saw him, all she could think of was their bathroom incident, and the way he looked shirtless, and –

The brunette shook her head, and walked over to pull Grantaire off the ground.

When she finally got her friend off the floor and onto a chair, she took a seat between Courfeyrac and Joly.

The latter immediately turned to her.

"Eponine! Have you been avoiding us?" He asked, feigning hurt.

"I would never, Joly."

"Of course not." Grantaire's voice came from behind them. Eponine turned to see her friend giving her a strange look.

"What do you mean, R?" The girl spoke carefully.

"I just mean that there must be _something _you're avoiding."

Eponine froze, before realising Grantaire was referring to Marius and not Enjolras.

"Piss off, Grantaire, I'm not in the mood." She muttered. The man in question recoiled, and sank further down in his chair.

"Here, come sit with me, Ep." Jehan said. "I'm drawing Cosette."

Eponine gladly took the excuse to move away from Grantaire, even if it meant moving closer to Enjolras, who was only a metre away from the empty seat next to Jehan. She made her way over and sat down. Cosette smiled and said 'hello' through her teeth, and Eponine returned the greeting before looking at Jehan's sketch.

She could see why he wanted to draw Cosette. The girl looked like an angel in a floral print dress, and she appeared to be a very patient model. Jehan was a pretty good artist, but realism was never his thing. Cosette's eyes had been replaced with blue stars and there were all sorts of things laced through her hair as it spread out around her as though she was lying down – pencils, flowers, even teabags. Jehan was that kind of artist, but with a face like Cosette's, it worked.

"How does it look?" Cosette asked.

"Amazing." Eponine answered honestly. Jehan and Cosette blushed simultaneously, and Eponine kept staring at the picture in wonder.

"Do you draw?"

The brunette looked up to see Jehan watching her with a smile.

"Uh, a bit." She replied shortly, hoping to end the conversation.

"Can I see something you've done?"

_Fuck._

"I'm really not good, Jehan." Eponine said. "I couldn't show you one of my sketches knowing that you can do _this_."

She gestured to the drawing as she said the last word. Jehan's face fell a bit, but he nodded and started on the background of the picture.

"She's good, Jehan." A voice said firmly. Eponine turned and found herself staring at Enjolras. His eyes met hers and then he quickly looked down.

"Well, there you go, Eponine! If Enjolras says that, you must be very good." Jehan grinned. Eponine didn't reply. "Okay, Cosette, you can take a breather. I'm going to get something to eat."

Cosette sighed, appearing thankful to be able to finally relax. As soon as Jehan was out of his chair, she sat in it, and started talking to Eponine.

"Hey, how are you?"

"I'm fine." The brunette replied. "You okay? You seem... Off."

"I'm okay." Cosette murmured, ducking her head.

_You really wouldn't do well in acting class. _Eponine thought.  
"Are you sure?"  
"I... I had a fight with Marius on the way over here."

Eponine's eyes darted over to the man in question. She couldn't stop the small part of her from jumping for joy.

_This doesn't mean you have a chance._

_We have more of a chance if he's single._

_He's not!_

"... About what?" Eponine finally spoke.

"It's a bit stupid, now that I think about it." Cosette said, letting out a shaky breath. "He really wants me to meet his parents, especially since he's met my dad, but... I'm just worried. His parents are really conservative, and I mean _really_ conservative. From what I've heard, they definitely wouldn't appreciate Marius bringing home a girl who's a socialist, and Marius and his father only just started getting along again... I just don't want to rock the boat, y'know?"

"Yeah, I get it."

"Anyway, Marius has just been pissy with me all night. Normally he'd be fine but he's been worried about you, and so-"

"Wait, what? He's been worried about me?" Eponine broke in. Her heart was beating so loudly she wondered if anyone else could hear it.

"Of course! With your fall, we've all been concerned. He's the only one in the group apart from me who hasn't visited you at Courfeyrac and Enjolras' apartment yet. He asked if we could visit, and got a strong no, which upset him a bit." Cosette explained. Eponine's eye twitched slightly.

"Why wouldn't the guys let you visit?" She asked, confused and slightly annoyed at her temporary roommates.

"Don't know, they said something about your emotional well-being, which I understood, but Marius was annoyed because everyone else visited. So we already disagreed on that, and this whole thing has kind of exploded a bit."

Eponine was quietly seething as she spoke again. "Hey, I'm really sorry, but I should make sure someone's giving Grantaire a ride home before he decides to leave on his own. Talk later, okay?"

"Okay. Thanks for listening, Ep."

"No problem."

Eponine quickly got up from her seat and walked over to Courfeyrac before pulling him out of his seat roughly.

"Courf, I need to talk to you."

She tugged him by the collar to the corner of the room.

"Jesus, Ep, what did I do?" He said, rubbing his neck when she finally let go of his top.

"Why didn't you let Marius come see me when I was injured?"

"Because you said not to." Courfeyrac said after a moment.

"What?"

"Marius called us on the day we found you. You were in a lot of pain, so Joly gave you some pretty strong painkillers. When I asked you about Marius and Cosette, you said not to let them visit, even if later you really wanted them to. You said it would fuck with your emotions to see them together or something like that."

Eponine rubbed her eyes. "I was completely out of it, Courf, why did you listen to me?"

"Because I agreed with you. Having Marius go on and on about how worried he was for you would have screwed with you, and I'm glad I didn't let it happen." Courfeyrac said adamantly.

"You had no right-" Eponine began.

"You could barely handle the others visiting, Eponine." Courfeyrac cut her off. "Marius and Cosette being there would've been too much to handle."

Eponine groaned quietly. She couldn't really argue with that.

"Fine. But for future reference, if my judgement is impaired in any way, do not listen to me. I might agree to something stupid like paintball."

"Laser tag. It's laser tag."

"I swear to god, you're like a less attractive Barney Stinson." The girl laughed as she made her way back to the group, who were now watching them with amused smiles (Courfeyrac and Eponine regularly had strange arguments and apparently they were very entertaining for their friends).

"I resent the 'less attractive part'. I am just as attractive as Neil Patrick Harris, if not more." Her friend said as he caught up with her.

"But you can't pull off a suit."

"The hell I can't." Courfeyrac grumbled. "Wait, you weren't denying the attractive thing!"

"Shut up, Courf." Combeferre, Joly, Grantaire, Marius and Cosette said this in chorus with Eponine.

"I _knew _you wanted some of this."

* * *

When Enjolras offered Eponine a ride to drama class, she really had no choice but to take the offer. It was already 3:50 and there was no way she could get there on time if she walked.

The ride was silent, but not pleasantly silent like their car rides together normally were. It was _excruciatingly_ awkward. Avoiding him the whole week was finally catching up with her, and she was kicking herself because she hated these situations so much. Confrontation was really not her thing.

Eponine sighed with relief when they pulled up at the university and quickly escaped the car. They walked together to the hall, still stuck in the awkward silence. When they entered the room, only five minutes late, they saw that Fantine was already talking to the group.

Fantine gestured for them to join the class.

"Eponine, Enjolras, glad you made it. I was just about to reveal what play we'll be performing at the end of this term."

Eponine and Enjolras took a place in the circle, somewhat sheepishly, and waited for Fantine to speak again.

"We'll be doing... Pride and Prejudice."

Eponine locked eyes with Enjolras and they both silently cursed as the group erupted into excited chatter.

* * *

**A/N: Weird ending, I know. I'm guessing there are going to be a few of you saying: "No! Anything but Pride and Prejudice!" because for whatever reason you have something against it, but damn, people, once I got it into my mind, I couldn't get it out.**


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Okay, a few things to get out before we start the chapter:**

**1 - I am not heavily into politics, particularly not French politics. I apologise if anything I said in the last chapter offended anyone. That was not my intention. I was just trying to briefly show the difficulties Marius and his parents were having with each-other. Politics is not the main focus of this story, but it was a part of one of the sub-plots, and if you can't handle reading about it, even though I'm pretty sure NONE of what I said was anti-conservative (it was more anti-Marius' parents, and even that description is pushing it), then I apologise.**

**2 - Oh my god, if I were you guys, I would hate me so much. Fourteen chapters without so much as a kiss. I'M SORRY. But the phrase 'slow burn' is literally in the description, you all knew what you were signing up for, and things will be happening soon, I promise.**

**3 - I have a tumblr! I put other writing on there, as well as on (I have another E/E fic on my account if you want to check that out, it's just a oneshot but it was fun to write), but I also put up playlists, and I'll do prompts if you guys want a little short bit about E/E or any pairing, really.**

**4 - My beta (love-never-dies-90) is better than you.**

* * *

Eponine and Enjolras left their drama class together, both laughing quietly about Fantine's choice.

"Pride and Prejudice? _Really_?" Eponine spluttered, once they were out of their teacher's earshot.

"I get the aspect of chemistry is intriguing for a director, especially as chemistry is our focus this term, but there is no way I would ever audition for any of those characters."

"We don't get to audition, though. Fantine said she's assigning us characters."

"Then I'll refuse to take part in it. None of the characters in that story appeal to me at _all_."

The brunette stopped laughing. "What? Not even Mr Darcy?"

"Especially not Mr Darcy." Enjolras said firmly.

"Why not? You both have that whole brooding thing going on."

"I do not brood."

Eponine started laughing again.

"What? I don't."

"Oh my god, you're so oblivious it almost hurts."

Enjolras stopped walking. "_I'm _oblivious?"

Eponine grabbed his arm and pulled him so he'd keep walking. "Come on, don't get all pissed. You know it's true."

"I don't brood! Grantaire broods. He's a regular Mr Darcy."

"Right."

"But I'm not like that."

"Right."

"Stop that!"

"Stop what?"

Enjolras grabbed Eponine's arm as she had done to him before, and got her to face him.

"Okay, okay." The girl laughed. "You're so easy to rile up."

Enjolras didn't reply, and silence fell as they made their way to his car.

"I know you're not like Mr Darcy, I was just messing around." Eponine said. "But you do brood sometimes."

"Okay, maybe I've been known to be a bit distant and moody sometimes, but I'm not as bad as him. He's completely awful to Elizabeth until he just suddenly decides he's fallen in love with her."

_Maybe Grantaire _is _like Mr Darcy._

"At least he realizes it in the end. Some people never do." Eponine pointed out just as they arrived at the car. Enjolras unlocked it and they both got in.

"Eponine?"

"Mm?"

"Can I ask you something?"

Eponine raised an eyebrow. "Sure."

"Why do you love Marius?"

The girl sucked in a breath. That hadn't been the question she was expecting. Actually, she didn't know what she'd been expecting, but it definitely wasn't that.

Enjolras started up the engine, and Eponine said nothing.

They were turning out of the street when she finally answered him.

"Marius was the first person to ever be properly nice to me. When I met him, my life was a bit of a mess – still is, really. Anyway, I had a lot on my plate, and I was used to people being kind of awful to me. Marius was just... different. It didn't really take much, I guess."

Silence.

"If it had been someone else..." Enjolras trailed off.

Eponine frowned. "I haven't really thought about that."

"I'm not saying that your feelings are fickle." The man said. "I just... it seems like it could have been someone else. Maybe if you had met Combeferre first, or Jehan..."

"Or you." Eponine said without thinking.

_Nice fucking work Eponine. Now things are going to be awkward again._

"I doubt you would have fallen in love with me." Enjolras said with a bit of a chuckle.

_Okay, that's better than silence, I guess._

"Enjolras, I'm sure I would've."

"People don't fall in love with me."

Eponine snorted. "Sure, go with that."

"Even if they did, you wouldn't."

"Which one of us here is me?" The brunette asked. Enjolras said nothing. "You're very easy to fall in love with, Enjolras, but not so easy to _be _in love with... which is just my type, apparently."

The blonde let out a sigh. "I know I'm not great at handling things like that."

"Which is why I'm glad I _didn't _meet you first."

"As if Marius is any better." Enjolras snorted.

Eponine looked down at her hands. "I know."

"I didn't mean it that way."

"Yeah, you did.

"Okay, maybe I did – but I shouldn't have said it." Enjolras said after a moment.

"It's fine." Eponine shrugged. She leaned forward and turned on the radio. It crackled for a moment before flickering to life and blaring out dubstep.

"_Please_ change stations." Enjolras growled, unable to do it himself as the button was on Eponine's side of the car. Eponine laughed, knowing how much her friend hated this kind of music, and turned it up later.

"I hate you!" He shouted over the noise, trying to reach for the switch with no avail.

"Don't lie to yourself, you love me."

* * *

The week passed by quickly. Eponine barely saw her friends at all, but this week it was because she was completely swamped with classes, homework, and her job. She was covering for her co-worker, who had called in sick for the week, which meant more money (most of it for Gavroche, as Enjolras and Courfeyrac refused to let Eponine help pay for the rent) and a lot more hard work.

She was also studying particularly hard, because mid-terms were coming up, and on top of all her secret visits to the inn when her parents were out, the only other things she had time for were eating and sleeping.

Monday came again, and Eponine was so glad to have a day off that she almost considered just sleeping the whole day, but Marius called her at 11 and asked her to come down to the café because he 'really needed someone to talk to'. She had half a mind to tell him to get fucked, but really, he was still one of her best friends, so she had a not-so-quick shower and then headed down there.

When she arrived at the café, she found that Marius and Enjolras were the only ones there. Both boys looked up at her arrival. Marius broke into a grin, and Enjolras mouthed 'help'.

Trying not to laugh, Eponine sat down the other end of the long table and gestured for Marius to join her so that Enjolras could work in peace.

"What's up?" The girl asked as her friend sat down next to her.

"I don't know if anyone's told you, but Cosette and I have been fighting."

Eponine raised her eyebrows. She had kind of forgotten about that, because normally when Cosette and Marius had fights they were over in a couple of days, but apparently this time it was serious.

Marius then told the same story Eponine had already heard, but from his perspective, which was interesting in comparison to Cosette's story.

Once he was finished ranting, he looked at Eponine helplessly. "I don't know what to do. One part of me thinks I should stand my ground, but the other part of me is really tired of fighting with her."

Eponine sighed.

She had an overwhelming urge to tell him to stand his ground, because she knew how that would end. Cosette would get annoyed that he was pushing it, and the fight might just continue until one of them finally decided that they needed a break, which would lead to a break-up, which would leave Marius single...

Not realising she had gone through this all in her mind, Eponine shook herself out of the fantasy and was about to say something when a voice interrupted her.

"Eponine, we should probably get to drama class." Said Enjolras, suddenly behind her.

Eponine frowned and checked her watch. "But it's only 3pm, and you have your car. It'll take ten minutes to get there."

"I thought we could walk."

"But..."

"Go, Eponine." Marius said with a sad smile. "I have studying to do anyway."

Before the brunette knew what was happening, Enjolras was lightly pulling her out of the café and away from her best friend.

"Why are we walking?" Eponine asked once they were on the street, trying to catch up to Enjolras who was speed walking ahead. "And why did you pull me away from my conversation with Marius?"

"Because I could tell what you were going to do." Enjolras said sharply.

The girl huffed. "What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean."

"I really don't! Kindly explain!"

"I mean that you were going to try and mess with the happiness of two of your friends just to get something that you never really wanted in the first place!" The blonde shouted back, stopping in the middle of the footpath.

Eponine stopped and turned on him. "I wasn't going to-"

"Cut the crap, Eponine. You know how to get into Marius' head – I'm surprised you haven't tried it already."

"Okay!" Eponine threw her hands up in defeat. "Maybe I was thinking about it. But Cosette is my friend, and I was never going to actually say anything."

Enjolras rolled his eyes and kept walking.

"Fine! You're right!" The girl shouted. Her friend stopped walking again.

"What?"

"I said, you're right. I was going to sabotage their relationship for my own personal gain, or... what did you say again?"  
Enjolras' eyes widened and then he looked down. "To get something you never really wanted in the first place."

Eponine frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"

The man in front of her sighed and was quiet for a moment. "Okay, remember what we talked about in the car?"

"Yeah."

"What did I ask you?"

"A lot of things. You ask a stupid amount of questions, you know that, right?"

Enjolras gave her a look and continued. "I asked you why you loved Marius, and you said because he was the first person who was ever properly kind to you."

"That's paraphrasing a bit, don't you think?" Eponine cut in.

"Eponine! Focus." Enjolras said, clearly losing patience. "Okay, so you said that, and then we talked about what it would've been like if you'd met Combeferre first, or Jehan... or me..."

"What are you trying to say?"

"Do you think there's a possibility that you're just in love with the _idea _of Marius?"

Eponine stared.

She had barely thought about her feelings for Marius in weeks. Honestly, she'd been too busy thinking about work, and school, and Gavroche, and... well, Enjolras. She had assumed that 'I'm in love with him, but I don't want to be' covered how she felt about Marius, but apparently, Enjolras had other ideas.

"Eponine? Please don't be mad. I'm sorry, it wasn't my business." Enjolras said, shaking Eponine from her thoughts.

If it had been anyone else, she probably would have been mad, but it was so rare that Enjolras actually talked about romance with anybody (although lately it seemed like a lot of her conversations with him had something to do with love, which was weird now that she thought about it) and honestly, he was probably right.

"I think you're right." Eponine said finally. Enjolras breathed a sigh of relief, and they started walking again.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you." The blonde said sincerely.

"You didn't. But, um... I'm kind of curious as to why you're so interested. You've never really cared about romance before. What's changed?"

Enjolras said nothing for a while, and then finally: "You're my friend, that's all. I don't want you to get hurt."

Eponine deflated slightly at the word 'friend'.

_What were you expecting? It's _Enjolras_. Seriously. 'Friend' is pushing it._

They continued on their way to the university, chatting aimlessly, but Eponine couldn't shake the feeling that there was something Enjolras wasn't telling her.

* * *

**A/N: Just to clarify, Enjolras is NOT in love with Eponine, or visa versa. Not yet. They both feel some kind of attraction towards eachother but they're both stubborn as fuck and won't acknowledge it for a while.**

**THIS CHAPTER WAS OBSCENELY HARD TO WRITE FOR SOME REASON?**

**xxx**

**abigailbelleofkilronan**


	15. Chapter 15

**CHAPTER FIFTEEN (Tuesday/Wednesday)**

**A/N: I AM SO SORRY THIS UPDATE TOOK SO LONG!**

**I was camping and I completely forgot about this fic so I basically wrote all this in one day and then rushed it to my beta - HUGE thanks to love-never-dies-90 for the usual reasons, and ALSO for the fact that she gave me the idea for the awkward moment Enjolras and Eponine have. I loved writing that in so much I can't even tell you. Anyway...**

**I'M SORRY THIS IS LATE.**

**(PLEASEDON'THATEME)**

* * *

Enjolras and Eponine's 6th drama class consisted of reading out chunks of script with their fellow students. Fantine promised she would have a cast list by next class, and then they would have to buckle down and learn lines out of class. Eponine was hoping for Mary, or Caroline Bingley, as those two characters had few lines, and the things they _did _say were sarcastic or bitchy, respectively. Honestly, she would be happy to just stand in the background and stare at the ground for the whole play, but Fantine said everyone was required to perform, because it would go towards their mark at the end of the semester (which seemed further away every day to Eponine). Fantine had suggested that she go for Elizabeth Bennett, which Eponine declined immediately. She was no leading woman.

But she had no doubt in her mind that Enjolras would get Mr Darcy, no matter how much he complained. No other men in the class would be able to pull it off quite like Enjolras – Eponine was sure of it.

However, in the end, it was Fantine's choice, and there was little Eponine or Enjolras could do to change it.

* * *

There were other things to worry about, besides the casting of their upcoming play.

Marius and Cosette were still going through turmoil, and it was slowly breaking them both to pieces. Cosette stopped attending the café meetings, and Marius took to drinking with Grantaire most days. They were both being a bit overdramatic, in Eponine's opinion, and normally she would've left them to wallow in their sadness and eventually break up, but Enjolras' words had gotten to her.

Even though she now knew that she was only in love with the idea of Marius, she was sure that her feelings for him were still there, though not as strong as they were before, and though her heart ached when she saw Cosette and Marius together, it ached even more to see them both spiralling downwards.

So Eponine made the decision to fix things between the two lovebirds. She would do it once, to make up for what she had wanted to do (break them up), but after that, they would have to kiss and make up on their own, which apparently they weren't very good at.

On Wednesday, after a particularly long and awful drinking competition between Grantaire and Marius at the bar, Eponine sent Cosette a text, hoping it wasn't too late to help them.

_Meet me for drinks tomorrow night at the bar. 8pm. Xox_

* * *

When Eponine entered the bar on Thursday night, Cosette was already seated at a table in the corner. The blonde was sipping a beer and staring off into space.

Eponine walked over and tapped the girl on her shoulder.

"Ep! Hey!" Cosette smiled when she turned around, before hugging Eponine.

"Hey, how's it going?"

Cosette's face fell slightly. "The same."

Eponine gave her a sympathetic look, and the two girls sat down. Eponine flagged down a waitress and ordered a beer of her own.

"So, be honest..." She began. "When was the last time you saw Marius?"

Cosette bit her lip. "A week ago, maybe?"

"That's kind of dysfunctional."

"I know, I know." The blonde sighed.

"I think you're both being stupid.

"It's just complicated-"

"No, it's not." Eponine cut in. "You two love each other. That's it. End of story."

Cosette finished off her drink and motioned for another to the passing waitress before speaking again. "We could love each other more than anything-"

"Which you do."

"And it wouldn't make fighting any easier."

"Fighting isn't meant to be easy, Cosette! The harder you fight, the better the makeup sex is!"

Eponine knew the only thing stopping Cosette from blushing then was the second beer that the waitress had just brought over.

"_Or_, the harder you fight, the worse the breakup is." The blonde countered.

"What's more important; Marius, or your pride?"

"Marius, but-"

Eponine sighed. "'But' _nothing_. This entire fight is stupid and I don't understand why neither of you are backing down."

"Because I don't want to just roll over and obey!" Cosette said loudly, briefly attracting the attention of the bartender and a few other customers. "My entire life I've been a push-over. Any time someone wants me to do something, I just _do _it without a second thought, and it makes people think they can get away with anything when it comes to me, and I'm just sick of it."

Eponine exhaled slowly. "You know, I never once thought you were a pushover. If you are, you're very good at hiding it. And anyway, all Marius sees when he looks at you is the sun shining out of your ass."

Cosette laughed quietly.

"You don't have to give into him... Just tell him the truth." Eponine finished.

"Which is what?" The blonde asked, pushing her beer away.

"That you love him, and you're tried of fighting."

Cosette nodded after a moment and smiled thankfully.

_I hope that's enough to keep them together._

* * *

Three hours later, Eponine was entering the apartment, after driving a slightly drunk Cosette home in the blonde's car, and walking to her own apartment, which thankfully only took ten minutes.

"Where have you been?"

Courfeyrac's voice came from the kitchen, where he was sitting with Enjolras.

"Are you my father now?" Eponine asked wearily. She was so not in the mood for an interrogation right now.

"Ugh, no. _Way _too much responsibility."

"Especially for someone who can barely take care of himself." Enjolras added.

Courfeyrac rolled his eyes and then stared at Eponine for a moment. "Well?"

The brunette dumped her bag on the table and joined her friends. "Not that it's any of your business, but I was out with Cosette."

"Why didn't you invite us?"

"Because I was trying to convince her to stop fighting with Marius, and I doubt you would have been helpful."

Courfeyrac gave her a look of disbelief, and Enjolras just smiled before getting up and turning on the kettle.

"Well, I'm pretty tired, so-" Eponine began, sensing what her friend was about to start talking about and not wanting to get stuck in yet another conversation about Marius. The first one was bad enough.

"Hold it!" Courfeyrac cut her off.

"Courf, I'm _tired_."

"I don't care. Why did you fix Cosette and Marius' relationship?"

Eponine sighed, and slumped down further in her chair. "I didn't. I made Cosette come to her senses, that's all. She's a big girl; she'll be able to handle it from there."

"But _why_?"

"Because they're my friends!" The girl spat out, losing her patience. "Is that really so hard to comprehend, or does everyone just assume that I'm the kind of person who would knowingly let people I care about experience heartbreak just so I might have a bit more of a chance with some guy?"

The room went silent.

"Fuck you guys." Eponine snarled.

She stormed out of the kitchen and into the room she had come to know as her own. There, she flopped onto the bed face-down and screamed into her pillow.

* * *

When Eponine entered the kitchen the next morning, albeit slightly later than usual, due to her late night with Cosette, she was immensely glad that only Enjolras was up. She said a sleep 'good morning', which he returned, before passing her a cup of tea. She took it gladly.

"I'm sorry about last night." Enjolras said after a moment.

"It's fine." Eponine replied honestly.

"Are you sure? Because I realised how rude it was of me to say those things the other day, and Courf probably just made it worse..."

"Enj, really, I overreacted."

Enjolras looked like he was going o say something, but then he shut his mouth tightly. It made Eponine think of their conversation before drama class the other day; how there had been something he obviously wanted to come out and say, yet he'd never said it. The girl wondered if it had been anything important.

_Maybe I should ask him about it. _She thought.

"Hey, Enj..." Eponine began.

Just then, Courfeyrac stumbled into the kitchen, eyes red and hair a mess.

"I thought you went to bed at the same time as me." Enjolras chuckled.

"You suck." Courfeyrac groaned in response. He did a double take when he saw Eponine.

"Um. Hi."

She nodded in response.

"Listen, Ep, about last night-"

Eponine cut him off with a look. "We were both stupid. Let's leave it at that."

"I didn't mean to make you upset." Courfeyrac said.

"I know. Any other night I would've given you the finger and moved on, but I've been stressed lately, and it didn't take much to piss me off last night, especially since I'd spent most of my evening telling Cosette how wonderful Marius is in the hopes that she'd end their stupid fight."

"It was really good of you to do that, Ep. Especially since..." Courfeyrac paused. "Well, y'know."

"I know, I'm a saint." The girl rolled her eyes. "Anyway, doesn't your class start at 11?"

Courfeyrac raised an eyebrow and nodded. Eponine chuckled and pointed to the clock, which read '10:55'. Courfeyrac stared at the clock for a moment before rushing out of the room.

"I wonder about him sometimes." Eponine laughed.

"So do I." Replied Enjolras.

Eponine stood up and stretched. "Well, I have a shit-ton of homework to do, so..."

"Need any help?"

Eponine stared at him for a moment. Enjolras never offered to help with anyone's university work. He always said it was 'a form of cheating and I will have no part in it'. "All I need to do is watch a movie for gender studies and do some revision for mid-terms."

"Movie sounds much more fun, if you ask me."

"Who are you, and what have you done with Enjolras?"

The man in question raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"Offering to help me with work, choosing fun over studying... You're acting odd."

"I guess I'm having a weird day." Enjolras said finally.

The brunette continued staring at him.

He caught her eye and laughed. "Come on, let's watch this movie."

Enjolras walked into the living room, and Eponine followed.

"Really, Enj, I don't think this is your kind of movie."

It was _definitely _not his type of movie. It was an off-centre Italian film. The story was loosely based around some fairy-tale (Eponine couldn't remember which) but it mostly consisted of a _lot _of sex scenes (odd sex scenes, according to the online reviews she had read). Her professor had assigned it because in class they were currently discussing the difference between the sexualisation of women and the sexualisation of men in film.

"I've always been interested in gender studies." Enjolras said, apparently choosing to ignore her warning.

"Seriously, you don't want to watch this movie."

"Eponine, if I didn't know any better, I would think you were trying to get me out of here so you can watch this movie alone!"

"Fine." Eponine sighed, picking up the DVD she'd rented the other day and taking the disk out. "But don't say I didn't warn you."

* * *

Twenty minutes into the film, Eponine could already tell that Enjolras was feeling uncomfortable. He was shifting in his seat constantly, tapping his fingers loudly on his knees, and his feet just wouldn't stay still.

"You don't have to watch this, Enj. It's _my _homework, not yours." Eponine said with a smirk. The blonde coughed and shook his head in response.

"Are you sure?"

"No, I – _yes._ I'm sure."

A particularly raunchy scene came on and even Eponine, who was pretty de-sensitized even before she met the sick-minded guys in the group, was too embarrassed to watch. She glanced away from the screen and found herself locking eyes with Enjolras. She lowered her eyes quickly.

_Oh great. _She thought. _The last thing I need right now is to look into the eyes of a very attractive man while the girl on the TV moans loudly._

Eponine held her breath and stole another glance at Enjolras, who had his hands balled into fists, causing his knuckles to go white.

_Jesus, he looks like he's having a worse time than me._

* * *

Enjolras gritted his teeth. The movie had only been playing for half an hour and he was about to scream. He hadn't noticed that Eponine was still in her pajamas (and this time pajamas meant a short silky dress and a light cardigan that didn't button up properly, and therefore didn't hide the dress' low-cut neckline) until he had to search for something to stare at (something that _wasn't _the TV) and saw that her dress had ridden up, exposing a lot of her tanned skin.

Needless to say, all that on top of the fact that she kept fucking _looking _at him, it wasn't helping things... _down there_.

Enjolras would have left as soon as he realised what the movie was about, if it weren't for his pride. He was sure that Eponine would tease him incessantly about being a prude or something along those lines.

Actually, knowing her, she would be quite polite about it, but he was also trying to prove something to himself – though he didn't know what it was he was trying to prove.

So, he stayed.

* * *

The two hours of excruciatingly awkward film were almost over when suddenly, Courfeyrac entered the room, obviously back from his lecture.

Eponine and Enjolras turned to face him at almost the exact same time, only to find him staring at what was on the screen (of course, _another _fucking sex scene) in shock and possibly, excitement.

"If I had known you guys were going to be watching porn together, I wouldn't have interrupted!" Courfeyrac said between loud giggles. "On second thought, I probably would have anyway."

Eponine stood up, face flushed.

"It's for my gender studies class." She said quickly before leaving the room without so much as a glance at Enjolras, who currently felt frozen in his spot on the couch.

"Today is going to be a weird day." Courfeyrac mused.

Enjolras leant back against the couch and cursed.

* * *

**A/N: Hey, so this was slightly longer... well, not really. Does it make up for extreme lateness?**

**I'M SORRY.**

**Accept my apology muffins?**

**Xxx**


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: I haven't actually told you guys what my tumblr is yet, have I? It's on my fanfiction account page if you ever forget, but it's ' .com' (obviously replace the 'dots' with actual full stops).**

**Also, I've been writing a whole lot of oneshots recently... they're short (and mostly very weird) but I put them up on both and my tumblr, so if you want to check those out, you know where to find them. Be warned, none of them are good.**

**My beta is love-never-dies-90.**

* * *

"You can't avoid him forever."

Eponine huffed, turning to look at Courfeyrac who stood in the doorway of her bedroom. "Who says I can't?"

"Me."

"Right, because _I'm_ going to listen to _you_."

"Yes, you are, because you know I'm right."

The girl briskly walked out of her room and into the lounge where she flopped onto the couch. Courfeyrac joined her.

"Seriously, Eponine, do you know how annoying it is being in the middle of two roommates who won't speak to each other? Plus, you've got a drama class together tomorrow. Aren't you being cast as parts in your production or something?"

Eponine turned on him. "Who told you that?"

"Enjolras, the other day."

"Fuck, I was going to tell him not to tell anyone about it, but-"

"But you were too busy _ignoring _him just because you got caught watching a porno together." Courfeyrac cut in.

Eponine threw up her hands in exasperation and got up to retrieve the DVD, which was resting on top of the DVD player now. She chucked it at Courfeyrac (she was aiming for the face, but sadly it hit his chest instead), who picked it up and scanned it quickly.

"Looks like a porno to me."

"It's not!" Eponine cried. "It's for my gender studies class. I can show you the damn assignment if you want. Enjolras _offered _to watch it with me, and I tried to tell him what the movie was about, but he wouldn't listen, and once it started, he couldn't get over his pride and just walk out of the room."

Courfeyrac said nothing for a moment. "If you don't get Elizabeth, I'm going to locate your drama teacher and yell at her."

The brunette's eyes bugged out.

"He _told you _what play we're doing?"

* * *

_could you please not tell people about our performance?_

Enjolras received the text during one of his lectures. Usually he would have had his phone on silent, but he had been too preoccupied with all his thoughts to do it, and now he was wondering if the text was something to do with an emergency, so he opened it, and saw it was from Eponine.

_Of course. May I ask why? _He replied quickly.

_cause I don't want them coming to our end of term thing_

Enjolras frowned.

_Why not?_

_because I'll make a fool of myself no matter what role I'm in_

The frown deepened.

_I think that is absolutely untrue, but I promise not to tell anyone else._

Eponine replied with a quick 'thanks', and though he knew he should've been focusing on the lecture, Enjolras found himself wanting to continue the conversation. He shook it off and tried to listen to the lecture, but a few minutes later, his phone buzzed with another text.

_we get cast tomorrow right?_

_I believe so._

_can I jump the gun and change your name to mr darcy in my phone now?_

_... Why?_

_cause you're going to get that part, brainless_

Enjolras smirked. _Was that an insult or a compliment?_

_cant it be both?_

_Well, you are going to be playing Elizabeth Bennett, so I suppose it can._

_to quote a certain blonde man, 'I think that is absolutely untrue'._

Another text came a few minutes later when Enjolras was halfway through a long reply.

_if you change my name to elizabeth bennett i WILL smack you_

The blonde felt a sense of warmth flooding through his body as he went into 'contacts' to do exactly that.

He and Eponine were back to normal again.

* * *

The next day went about as usual. Courfeyrac seemed a bit bewildered at the sight of Eponine and Enjolras being friendly again without so much as talking about the matter face-to-face, but he said he was happy that there wasn't 'so much damned tension in the apartment', and Eponine felt the same.

She'd felt like her friendship with Enjolras had really been tested these past few weeks. She'd been ignoring him, he'd been distancing himself from her, and on top of all that they'd both been going through so much stress (in regards to mid-terms) that it was hard to focus on anything else. But now mid-terms were over, and Eponine was able to focus on other things, like work, and Gavroche, and her drama classes.

Enjolras and Eponine now had a bit of a habit of walking to drama together, sometimes making idle chit-chat, sometimes just basking in pleasant silence. Today it was the former, as they discussed how they thought they went on their mid-terms. Enjolras was confident in most of his classes, while Eponine was freaking out completely.

By the time they got to the university, Enjolras had managed to calm Eponine down a bit, and she was feeling a bit better about what her test results would be. However, it seemed that she was doomed to never be stress-free, because when they got to the hall, outside the door everyone was crowded around what appeared to be a piece of paper stuck to the wall, and as Eponine moved in closer to read what was on the paper, she spotted her name (not her birth name, of course, because then anyone who'd been to the inn would instantly link her to her father – it was the name she gave to her friends and teachers, the name she would have been called if she'd been given her mother's last name). The page read 'Pride and Prejudice Cast List', and it said right at the top:

**EPONINE JONDRETTE as ELIZABETH BENNETT**

And below that:

**AIDAN ENJOLRAS as MR DARCY**

* * *

Eponine and Enjolras waited until the rest of the class was inside before turning to face each other.

"I didn't actually think we would _both _get the leading roles." Eponine said, blowing out a long breath.

"Neither did I."

"I guess it's because of the chemistry thing."

"That may have been a fluke, though!"

"Exactly! We could screw up the entire play by not having the right romantic tension."

"Or not having any at all."

"I... I was thinking... to save awkwardness and all that, do you think we should talk to Fantine and ask if we can be switched? You can stay as Mr Darcy and I can be someone else, or something."

Enjolras frowned. "Or _I _can switch and you can stay as Elizabeth. You're made for that part."

"_You're _made for _your _part."

"I see you've read the cast list." A voice came from behind them. The two friends turned and saw Fantine smirking at them.

"Actually, we were wondering if we could discuss exactly that." Enjolras said. "I think – well, _we _think, that the play would be better off if one of us switched parts. Preferably me."

"Or me." Eponine added.

Fantine looked at them both, a strange look on her face. "I see. And what makes you think that?"

"Well, I don't think we'd work well together as romantic leads." Eponine began.

"That is, to say... it'd be awkward and possibly stilted. We really don't want to ruin this play just because we don't have the right chemistry between us." Enjolras finished.

"And you don't think that, just maybe, your drama teacher knows chemistry when she sees it?" Fantine asked.

Eponine's eyes widened. "No, that's not what we meant at all! We just don't think we'd do the romance justice, and that's one of the biggest parts of this story."

"I think you're thinking about yourselves too much." Fantine replied. "This story is a romance, yes, and it involves actors kissing and getting married and all that, but it's also about discovering the parts of yourself that stop you from going for what you want. It is _literally _about pride and prejudice and anything else along those lines, because these two characters are so caught up in how it could go wrong and what people might say that they don't let themselves give in to how they really feel. It's about irritating mothers and bitchy sisters and being told you can't marry for love because it is too impractical. It's about two people who feel so drawn to each other that they hate themselves for it. It's more about _chemistry _than romance, and I don't care what you say, _you two have chemistry_. Everyone can see it."

Eponine didn't quite know what to say to that. Apparently neither did Enjolras, so Fantine spoke again.

"I can't force you to go onstage at our performance and show everyone how well you work together, but I _can _force you to participate and stick with your roles, because I'm the teacher and I get to do that. Think of this as a challenge – try to see past the fact that you're Eponine and Enjolras and just think of it as the two of you just completely becoming your parts. You found an amazing kind of chemistry in that lesson a few weeks ago, and I know you can bring it back if you try."

With that, Fantine walked into the hall, and Eponine and Enjolras were left to stare at eachother.

"She's right." Enjolras said finally.

"I know." Eponine sighed.

They stood in silence for a moment.

"You should've just asked someone else to come to this class with you." Eponine said finally.

"Don't say that."

"Why not?"

"Because it's bullshit. You're a talented performer. I'm glad you're here. So are Courf and Grantaire."

Eponine's head snapped up. "Excuse me?"

"Oh, um..." Enjolras coughed. "Grantaire knows you're in this class. I asked Courfeyrac a few days before I asked you – don't forget, this was before I knew you were even interested in drama at all – and Grantaire was around when I did it. He interrupted before Courfeyrac could give an answer, saying something about how you were interested in acting but you'd never given it a shot. He said he felt really shitty that you were wasting your time with an engineering degree – his words, not mine – just so you could get a well-paid job. He feels responsible for it because he never tried hard enough to convince you to go for something you're actually passionate about."

Eponine frowned. "He said all that?"

"I'm paraphrasing. The way he said it sounded a lot better, and a lot less... rude."

"No, I... he's right, I guess."

Enjolras' face lit up.

"But it's too late to realise that now."

"What do you mean?"

The brunette sighed. "I _mean _that this is the last year of my engineering degree. I can't pull out now, I've paid for it all, and changing my major at this point would be damn near impossible."

"No, it wouldn't." Her friend replied, excitedly. "I know the dean – he's a family friend – and I'm sure we'd be able to work something out. I changed my major a few years ago and I got a discount. I'm sure if I explained your situation to him, he'd be willing to do the same for you."

Eponine bit her lip. The thought of actually being able to do what she wanted was exciting, and now that she was basically living with Enjolras and Courfeyrac for free (though she was planning on discussing that soon, because not paying rent was eating away at her), she had a bunch of spare money that she had been saving up to get an apartment for just her and Gavroche. Maybe she would have to move back to the inn for a while to take care of her brother – the thought of it was terrifying, but not as terrifying as the thought of something happening to Gavroche because Eponine didn't live with him anymore. She was about to suggest this idea to Enjolras (it would take a lot of arguing, she knew, but it was the only way) when the man himself spoke.

"I think they're about to start a read-through." He said. "We should probably get in there. Can we continue this discussion after drama?"

Eponine nodded and held out her hand, gesturing for him to go through the door first.

"After you, Miss Bennett." He said with a grin, mirroring her hand movement.

She rolled her eyes and pushed him through the doorway.

"Can it, Mr Darcy."

* * *

**A/N: This chapter felt odd. I'm not unhappy with it but I'm not sure if I'm happy with it either...**

**I'm curious to know – how many of you are confused by the timeline of this story? I have it all written up, so I can just check it if I ever get a bit iffy, but I don't think I've been very clear about it. Just so you're sure, this chapter is set in the 9****th**** week since the story started (chapters 1, 3, 4 and 5 were all set in the first week, and from there it's just been confusing as balls, am I right?) – don't know if that makes sense to you all, but it makes sense to me!**

**Also – I finally had to give Enjolras a first name. I don't know? I always had this headcanon that modern Enjoras would have a little bit of Irish in him, and then that name just popped into my head, so...**

**Anyway, I will not be using that name a lot. Enjolras will simply be known as Enjolras, because let's face it, it's a good name.**


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: We got to 100 reviews! I barely just noticed. Thank you all so much guys! It kind of works out well, because I have a bit of a surprise scene for you at the end of this chapter... I hope you enjoy it!**

**My beta is love-never-dies-90.**

* * *

Over the next week, Enjolras and Eponine were inseparable. They had gotten scripts from Fantine, and they had only a few weeks to learn them before they would stop using scripts in rehearsals, so they were spending every spare minute rehearsing lines with each other. The only problem was that they had to avoid their friends, as Enjolras now agreed with Eponine that if they came to the end of term performance, it would be a disaster (especially as there were kissing scenes, but Eponine hadn't let herself think about that too much yet) and they would all go on about it for weeks.

The group had started noticing that the two were always discussing something – though none of them knew what – and it seemed to be getting on their nerves. Eponine should have known that with friends as weird as hers, something would go down.

But when she and Enjolras walked into the back room of the café after their 8th drama class, the group were all waiting for them (minus Marius and Cosette).

"So, where have you two been?" Joly asked.

Eponine stared at him blankly. "At our drama class."

"He means, where have you been _all week_?" Courfeyrac looked at them with what he probably thought was a stern expression on his face.

"I get the feeling this is going to be an interrogation." Enjolras mock-whispered to Eponine.

"I don't think I'm ready for that." Eponine replied, trying to hold back giggles.

They both pulled up a chair and sat so they were facing the group.

"I could explain to you where I've been all week," Enjolras began, "but I have a feeling it would get very boring, _very _fast."

"Very funny, Enjolras, but that's not what we mean. Neither of you have been around all week. Enjolras, you haven't been around working on causes and rallies and whatever else you work on, and Eponine..." Courfeyrac trailed off.

"What haven't I been doing?" The girl asked with a raised eyebrow. "Ignoring you? Getting you out of trouble? Making sure you don't pass out in an alleyway drunk?"

Combeferre got out of his chair. "Look, this isn't an interrogation, but it's true that you guys have been together basically all week, and we'd just like to know... Are you... interested in each other?"

"_No!_" Eponine and Enjolras shouted simultaneously.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry. Nobody else was going to ask."

"Do you guys really think that... _Enjolras _and I... are interested in each other romantically?" Eponine said slowly.

The room went quiet.

"Well, now that you say it like that, it sounds kind of ridiculous." Joly said.

"We've both been very busy with schoolwork and the like, and we've been helping each other out, as _friends_. Is that so wrong?" Enjolras looked around expectantly.

The group murmured 'no's.

"Okay then. End of discussion, you all owe me a drink." Eponine said, pulling her chair closer to the big table and listening to the usual chatter start up.

_God, my friends are odd._

* * *

From there, the night went on as usual, and the group seemed to be pretending that their little intervention thing never happened. Eponine was glad they had come to their senses, but she couldn't help dwelling on the fact that they'd thought she and Enjolras were a couple.

What had they done to seem like a couple? Sure, they'd be spending a fair amount of time together that week, but friends did that kind of thing! It shouldn't have even been an issue, and the fact that even Combeferre and Jehan were in the group (Combeferre was never one to pry in other people's personal matters, and Jehan should have just been happy for them if he thought they were dating – which they _weren't_) said a lot about how mob mentality worked, especially when Courfeyrac was involved.

Eponine was determined to let this pass without it being awkward between her and Enjolras, so she continued to act the same and tried not to think about what she could've been doing that made them think they were dating. It probably had something to do with what Courfeyrac walked in on – though Eponine had explained that the movie was for a class over 10 times, Courfeyrac never seemed to listen – and the fact that the man himself was known for jumping to conclusions.

Even if she and Enjolras _were _dating, why would it be such a big deal? Why would everyone be so fucking crazy about it? Why would they hold an 'interrogation'?

Eponine imagined for a moment how she and Enjolras would look together – holding hands as they walked down the street, kissing, whispering in each other's ears...

_No! _Eponine screamed at herself in her head. _You are _not _a fucking sap. You do not buy into this romantic bullshit, and even if you did, Enjolras is the last person in the world who would be interested in you. He's always going to be one of those men who's 'married to his work', so don't even go there. Anyway, it's not like you have feelings for him._

_Right. You would never even look at Enjolras in a romantic way. Sure._

_It's true, so fuck off._

_I'm inside your head, genius, I can't fuck off. Besides, you know I'm right._

_You're not right. I'm not even vaguely attracted to Enjolras, let alone in love with him._

_Never said you were in love... but you don't think there's the slightest possibility that you might occasionally think of him as more than a friend?_

_Nope._

_You're not even going to give the idea a chance?_

_Nope._

Eponine shook herself out of that crazy conversation (since when did she talk to herself?) and tried to focus on what Jehan was talking about.

Grantaire was in the corner of the room (Eponine hadn't noticed, but it looked as if he'd been there the whole time) drinking what looked like water. Eponine frowned and excused herself from her conversation with Jehan and Joly, before walking over to her friend and sitting down next to him.

He looked up but didn't say anything when she arrived.

"So, uh, thanks for not being a part of that whole thing. I'm guessing you weren't a part of it, anyway, because you weren't at the table." Eponine said after a moment.

"They were all being stupid. Didn't want any part of it." Grantaire replied.

The girl could tell something was wrong, but she couldn't ask him outright, because he was apparently sober and probably wouldn't answer honestly. "They're always stupid."

"Good point."

"I feel like we haven't talked in ages."

Grantaire took a sip of what was definitely water before he spoke. "That's because we haven't."

"I miss you."

"I'm here now."

"Not really, though."

The man paused for a long time.

"I'm not sure I know what you mean." He said finally.

"I think you do." Eponine replied.

"Look, Ep, I'm sorry we haven't hung out in a while."

"But see, I get the feeling you're _not _sorry." Eponine said angrily. "I get the feeling you're avoiding me for some reason, and I think I have the right to know what I did to piss you off so much."

Grantaire sighed. "You didn't do anything."

"Then explain to me what's going on!"

"Y'know, this is completely out of the blue. I'd like to know why you care all of a sudden that we haven't talked in weeks. Didn't seem to bother you a few days ago."

"R, you're my best friend. Of course it bothers me. I've been busy lately, but-"

"Obviously you haven't been too busy for Enjolras." Grantaire cut in.

Eponine was taken aback. "What?"

"Courfeyrac is right, you two have been hanging out all the time."

"Are you... jealous of me because I'm spending time with Enjolras?" Eponine asked.

Grantaire shot her an angry look.

"Okay, okay... are you jealous of Enjolras?"

Another angry look.

"Well jesus, Grantaire, what else could you be pissed off about?"

"I'm pissed that he's good for you." The man said loudly.

"What the fuck does that mean?"

"It means that ever since you two have been hanging out, things have been going well for you. You've moved into a new place, you're finally pursuing your love for acting, and you just look... happier. Enjolras has done all that for you. And what have I done? I'm the reason you chose engineering, even though you have absolutely no passion for it, I'm an awful role model for your brother, and I've been your best friend for almost five years, yet I've never gotten _close _to convincing you to move out of your house. Enjolras has been close with you for what, a month or two? And now you're living with him."

"Because I had to!" Eponine said suddenly. "I couldn't stay at that house, not when..."

She trailed off as Grantaire stared at her.

_You can't even hint at stuff like that when he's sober. He won't forget it, numbskull._

"Not when I was injured. It was too dangerous... and you're right, I'm happier in an apartment with Courfeyrac and Enjolras, and I plan on getting custody of Gavroche and getting a better job and maybe even changing my major, but those are all things I'm doing for myself. Enjolras is _helping _me, yes, but I'm not a damsel in distress, and I don't need either of you to save me. It's not your responsibility to save me. You're a good friend, 'Taire – yeah, maybe you're not the best role model for Gavroche, but if you hadn't noticed yet, he's a little more de-sensitised than other kids his age."

Grantaire chuckled at the last part. "Okay, okay. I'm over it."

"Good. I need to go, I have an early lecture tomorrow, but we should go for drinks soon." Eponine said, rising out of her chair.

"I hope you mean juice!" Grantaire called across the room as she walked away.

Eponine laughed and made her way over to where Enjolras, Courfeyrac and Combeferre were talking.

"Hey guys, I'm going to head home." She told them, leaning on one of the chairs.

"I might join you." Enjolras got out of his chair.

Courfeyrac made a strangled-cat noise and looked ready to say something, but Combeferre lightly smacked his arm before he could open his mouth.

Eponine gave both men a strange look. "Well, night."

"Night." Combeferre replied. Courfeyrac only whimpered.

Enjolras and Eponine walked into the front part of the café, and Eponine was about to comment on how weird their friends were, when Cosette and Marius walked through the door, hands linked.

Eponine couldn't help the way her stomach tightened at the sight, even though it appeared Cosette had taken her advice and fixed things with Marius. She forced a smile onto her face.

"Good to see you two back to normal." She said as a greeting.

Cosette seemed to be bursting with joy, and Marius was giggling slightly.

"Is something going on?" Enjolras asked after a moment.

"We have big news." Marius grinned. "We're moving in together!"

* * *

After listening to Marius go on and on about the apartment he and Cosette were looking at, Eponine stormed out of the café, Enjolras right behind her, and started on the five minute walk it took to get to the apartment.

"Eponine?" Enjolras' voice sounded wary.

She didn't say a word until they got to the apartment. Once inside, she ripped off her coat and threw it on the table, before opening one of the cupboards and pulling out the bottle of vodka that Courfeyrac always kept in the kitchen. She took off the cap and took a sip straight from the bottle, wincing slightly.

"Eponine, calm down." Enjolras said.

The girl glared at him. "Fuck off."

"Are you really going to let yourself get worked up about this? It's Marius."

"They've been dating for less than a year and they're already moving in together! This is ridiculous!" Eponine exclaimed, taking another sip of vodka.

"You were trying to get them back together. Isn't this what you wanted?"

"Here's the thing, Enjolras – I have no fucking _clue _what I want. Every day I try hard to keep things going and keep Gav safe and make my friends happy but I still don't fucking know what I want. I want things that I deserve, like my brother and my friends and a place of my own, and I want things that I'll never get, like..."

"Marius?" Enjolras suggested quietly.

"Love. True love, not some bullshit fantasy about the first guy who was ever kind to me." Eponine put her head in her hands. "God, my life is a mess."

"No, it's not." Suddenly the blonde was right next to her, prying the bottle of vodka out of her hands and clutching her shoulder. "Everyone has fucked up things in their lives – you have more than most people – but there are always going to be good things to balance it out."

"Do you know that? Are you sure of it?" Eponine stood up so she was level with Enjolras. "Can you tell me for certain that things are going to get better?"

"Better than what?"

"Better than being this person!" The brunette shouted. "Better than being the kind of person that nobody falls in love with. Better than being the anti-Cosette, the fucked up girl that everybody will pity and befriend, but who will never have anyone _want _them."

Enjolras looked as though he was searching Eponine's eyes. "Do you really think that?"

"I _know _it. I have 22 years of proof." Eponine spat bitterly.

"Do you even _see _yourself, Eponine?" The man suddenly raised his voice. "You are intelligent, and funny, and witty, and strong, and fucking _beautiful_. You have been through so much and yet you never go to pieces. You're resilient all the time, even though you don't need to be. You're caring and loyal and sexy and an amazing friend!"

"We must be looking at different people!"

"Obviously _we are_!"

For a moment, the only sound in the room was the two of them breathing heavily, and the clock on the wall ticking.

And then suddenly they both moved forward and their lips collided.

At first a shock went through Eponine and she was completely still, but then a single thought went through her brain: '_I may as well.' _and that was it.

He opened his mouth as soon as she opened hers. Their lips moved together, fast and then slow and then fast again. Eponine tilted her head to the side and took Enjolras' bottom lip between both of hers and sucked. His arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her closer, and she grabbed his shoulders as the kiss continued and the huge build up of tension was finally released.

Eponine's heart was beating faster and faster by the second. Enjolras' teeth lightly grazed her bottom lip, and the girl couldn't help the moan that escaped her lips. That noise seemed to halt things completely.

Enjolras pulled back, and Eponine looked up at him, still tangled in his arms, face flushed and eyes wide.

"Um... Hi."

* * *

**A/N: Heh. Heheh.**

**That's all, folks. (Just for this chapter, obviously. I'm not just going to end the story here. I have way more shit to put Enjolras and Eponine through. Waaaay more.)**

**Xoxo**

**Abigailbelleofkilronan**


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: Well, last chapter, in my Author Note, I said I had way more stuff to put Enjolras and Eponine through. I was not messing around. Kindly don't throw rotten things at me through the internet.**

**(Also, I got a couple of not-very-nice anon reviews for the last chapter, so I deleted them in the moderation thingy. I can tolerate constructive criticism but it's kind of sucky to be looking over reviews and see people blatantly hating with no explanation as to why you disliked it or what I could do to change it. I will normally NEVER delete reviews, because anyone taking the time to review is appreciated, but these were just plain mean.)**

**My beta (love-never-dies-90) is cool.**

* * *

The silence in the room was somehow excruciatingly loud. Eponine studied her fingernails as she tried to think of something to say. She and Enjolras were both sitting at the kitchen table. He had suggested they 'talk, rather than run out on each other', and she had agreed it was a good idea. That's what she had thought at the time, but now it didn't seem so great.

It had been approximately five minutes since they kissed. Eponine shook her head slightly, trying to get it through her brain. She... and Enjolras... _kissed_... and as if that wasn't bad enough, it was a fucking incredible kiss too!

She had never imagined she'd have to deal with this sort of situation, hence the awkward silence, which was kind of killing her a bit.

"So..." Enjolras said finally. "I don't really know whether or not I should apologise."

"Don't." Eponine replied without thinking. "Really, you have nothing to apologise for... and it's not like that was the worst kiss in the world... right?"

_What'd you say _that _for, idiot? He might have hated that kiss! Although, judging from how he reacted... no, no, we're not going there._

"It was _far _from the worst kiss in the world." Enjolras said, and then froze, as if he hadn't meant to say the words aloud. Eponine knew the feeling.

"Uh-huh."

The blonde coughed. "I was kind of expecting you to slap me."

"I'd never hurt that pretty face of yours." Eponine smirked, before realising what she'd just said. She was used to messing with Enjolras, teasing him and flirting in a friendly way, but now she was worried he would take it the wrong way.

_What if he did? Would that be so bad?_

_Yes. No. I don't know. Yes, because it's Enjolras._

_Exactly! It's _Enjolras_. He's everything you could want in a person._

_Not really._

_Yes, really. He's not perfect – nobody is, least of all you – but he's pretty fucking close._

_Why would I want to be with somebody who's perfect? I'd constantly measure myself up to them._

_Better than being with someone who's completely fucked up. Read: Montparnasse._

_Anything would be better than being with Montparnasse._

"Okay, I, um... I'm kind of tired." Eponine said, attempting to pull herself out of her own head. "I'm not suggesting we completely forget about... this... but maybe we should sleep on it. See how we feel in the morning. Sound good?"

Enjolras gave her a blank look, and then nodded.

"Cool. I will see you... when I see you."

The brunette got out of her chair, waved to Enjolras (she had no idea why) and made her way to her bedroom.

She contemplated texting someone, but who could she talk to about this? Cosette was part of the reason it had happened, Courfeyrac was awful at keeping secrets, and Grantaire... no way. The last thing Eponine needed was to tell her best friend that she'd made out with the person he had feelings for. So she wearily flopped on the bed, pulled the covers over herself, and tried to think of anything but the way Enjolras' lips had felt against hers.

* * *

Eponine woke the next morning to find she had slept in (this was becoming a regular thing and it was worrying her slightly). She rubbed her eyes and got out of bed, cursing her past self for a, sleeping in normal clothes instead of pajamas, and b, not brushing her teeth.

After washing up in the bathroom and changing into a new outfit, Eponine walked into the kitchen. There she found Courfeyrac in front of the stove.

"Uh, Courf? Are you cooking?"

He turned around and grinned. "Pancakes!"

"Why?"

"To make up for being a shitty friend last night."

The events of the previous night came back to Eponine in a rush. Her friends staging an 'intervention', her discussion with Grantaire, fighting Enjolras, kissing Enjolras... Ah, that was it. She and Enjolras had _kissed_, and then things had been super awkward, and _now_, she had to talk it out with him.

"Fuck." Eponine said aloud.

"You're not still mad, are you?" Courfeyrac said, reminding the girl of his presence.

"No, no, we're fine. I just remembered something I have to do today." Eponine sighed, taking a seat at the table. "Where's Enjolras?"

Her friend shrugged as he flipped a pancake onto a plate. "Dunno. He's normally out of the house before I'm up."

"If you see him today, tell him I need to talk to him."

"Sure, but isn't that what phones are for?"

Eponine didn't answer, because Courfeyrac had just placed a plate with three pancakes on it in front of her, and she was _starving_. She eagerly took the maple syrup in the middle of the table (wow, Courf had really gone all out) and drizzled it on her stack of pancakes.

"So," she said between bites, "is this really because of that stupid thing last night? I thought we talked about it."

"We did, but... I came home last night and saw my bottle of vodka on the table."

Eponine froze. Enjolras must've forgotten to put it away after she went to bed. Why had she been drinking it in the first place?

"I assumed it was because of Marius and Cosette's big news."

_Ah. That was probably the reason. _Eponine thought as she grimaced.

"Yeah, our little love birds sure are getting a move on."

Courfeyrac raised an eyebrow. "That's all you're going to say?"

"Yep."

"You're not angry, or sad, or..."

"Would you quit looking at me like I'm about to explode?" Eponine cut him off, though it was more of a chuckle than a reprimand. "I'm fine. I talked it out with Enjolras last night."

_Right. _Talked _it out. A whole lot of talking._

"Oh." Courfeyrac frowned. "That's good, I guess."

Eponine was about to say something about the look on his face, but instead she chose to polish off her last pancake.

"You're a fast eater."

"Only when the food is good. Thanks for cooking, Courf. I'm going to call Grantaire and see if he wants to hang out. Wanna join us?"

"I'm actually hanging out with Combeferre and Joly today. You and Grantaire can come with, but it's mostly going to be coffee and studying in the library."

Eponine laughed. "How'd you get roped into that?"

"I chose of my own free will."

The girl raised an eyebrow.

"Free coffee. 'Ferre is buying." Courfeyrac said in explanation.

"Ah. Well, have a good time."

And with that, Eponine left.

* * *

Two hours later, she and Grantaire were drinking coffee in a small café that nobody else in the group knew about (they liked having a little place to themselves) and talking. Eponine could tell there was something her friend wanted to bring up, even though he was hiding it very well, and it was starting to get on her nerves that he wasn't saying anything.

"What is it, R?"

The man raised an eyebrow. "What's what?"

"You want to talk about something, but you're keeping it from me."

"No, I'm not."

Eponine took a sip from her coffee but said nothing.

"Okay, fine."

"I knew it!" She exclaimed. "What is it?"

"I was just wondering if you were okay after last night."

"Which part?"

"You know which part."

Eponine sighed. "Fine. At first, I was pissed. And upset. And a whole lot of other things."

"But now...?"

"I'm way better. Had some vodka, talked it over with-" Eponine cut herself off.

_Don't. Mention. Enjolras._

"With who?" Grantaire asked immediately.

"Courfeyrac." Eponine lied smoothly after a beat. "Those words together don't sound right, do they?"

The man chuckled. "They really don't."

"So," the brunette said, feeling the need to switch conversation topics, "has your brooding subsided the way mine has?"

"Actually, I think it has. Had a bit of a sudden realisation thingy – what are those called?"

"You had an epiphany?"

"Yeah, one of those. It was weird. I haven't had one since I was 16. I guess being drunk all the time kind of rids you of having to experience them."

"It's one of the perks of being perpetually inebriated. Epiphanies _suck_."

"You've been spending too much time with Enjolras. Did you hear yourself speaking just then?"

Eponine laughed. "I'm getting educated, darling, it happens to the best of us. Now come on; what was the epiphany's message?"

"In order to save myself, I have to save Springfield."

It took the girl a moment to realise Grantaire was quoting the Simpsons.

"Very funny. Now spill."

The man sighed. "Well, you know how the guys all got it into their minds that there was something going on between you and Enjolras?"

"Yes." Eponine said slowly, wondering where this was going.

"Well, at the start of last week, when they were discussing it, I thought they were all insane. Then you guys kept hanging out together – talking, laughing, walking everywhere – and I started to think maybe it wasn't such a crazy idea. I got a bit annoyed at that point, cause I thought a, you were dating Enjolras, and b, you were hiding it from me. I was mostly pissed about the first part. Then I had the epiphany thing, and I realised that Enjolras would be good for you – I mean, if he wasn't made of stone, he would be – and that you'd be good for him, and what's the point of being in love with someone if you don't want them to be happy? That's not love, really. And I thought... maybe I could handle it. If it made Enjolras happy, I think I could handle him dating someone."

Eponine's whole body froze.

_Is that him giving me permission to pursue things with Enjolras? Not that I _want _to, but... it's nice to have the possibility. Isn't it? No. Yes. Maybe._

"I mean, now I know that you guys would _never _date, but it was a good way to come to the conclusion that if Enjolras ever starts dating, I'll be able to handle it."

"I'm happy for you, 'Taire." Eponine said honestly. She took out her phone and checked the time. "I hate to cut this short, but I should go. I need to talk to someone about some things before work."

"Okay, I'll see you at the café tonight, yes?"

"Probably." She said vaguely, not wanting to make promises. She had to drop in at the inn that night after her shift was over (without her parents knowing, obviously) and see Gavroche, so it was possible she wouldn't make it. She waved goodbye to Grantaire, and left the café.

As she walked home, she made a note to talk to Enjolras as soon as she could. She needed to get this stuff sorted out.

* * *

When Eponine got to the apartment, the door was open, which struck her as odd. Enjolras would never be so careless, so it must have been Courfeyrac who'd left it open – probably while drunk. Eponine entered the apartment, looking around and expecting to see Courf passed out somewhere.

_I wonder if Enjolras is home yet. _The girl thought idly, hoping to discuss her feelings about _the kiss _with him.

"Courf? Enjolras?" She called out, setting her bag down. There was no response. She started pulling off her top – it was too hot in the apartment for more than one layer – but it got stuck over her head. She tugged at it, and then felt hands helping her pull the clothing off.

Eponine chuckled and blushed, assuming it was Enjolras being helpful, or Courfeyrac being... Courfeyrac. "Can't wait to get me out of my clothes, can you?"

She turned to face the person just as they spoke. "Never was patient."

Eponine froze. The person standing in front of her was not Enjolras or Courfeyrac. The man was grinning wildly, and he had messy hair and torn clothes. She recognised him instantly.

"Parnasse." She whispered, her voice sounding more terrified than she'd ever thought possible.

"Hello, 'Ponine. Did you miss me?"

* * *

**A/N: When I was writing that last part, I kept hearing that 'dananana' noise (the one they played in the Hawaii episode of the Brady Bunch whenever bad shit went down) in my head. I blame Scrubs.**

**So... please don't kill me. You should all know by now that whenever good things are happening (like kissing), you need to be on the lookout for something bad occurring. However, good things will follow these bad things.**


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N: I'm a little worried that you guys are going to form an angry mob and I'm going to have to hide in a barricade. Actually, that doesn't sound so bad. Even so, I'm sorry that I'm putting these two through so much angst. I hope you can forgive me.**

**Warning: This might seem like a bit of a stupid warning for some of you, but I just realised that Eponine speaks rather bluntly about rape in this chapter. Just to be careful, I'm warning you now that there's some of that. I would hate to trigger someone.**

**Beta'd by love-never-dies-90, who is a total babe.**

* * *

"How did you get in here?" Eponine demanded, ripping her top away from the man in front of her.

It was Montparnasse, smug, filthy and dangerous as ever. "You know how it works. A coat hanger, a stolen credit card, a bobby pin. Slide one of 'em between the wall and the door and jiggle the lock. It's fucking child's play."

"You need to leave."

"But I just got here. We need to catch up, 'Ponine! I haven't seen you in ages. It's almost like you've been avoiding me."

"Leave or I'll make you leave, dipshit." Eponine snarled.

"Ah, there's the feisty girl I know. I thought your university friends would have gotten that out of you by now, but you're still in touch with your roots."

"No, I'm not. I have consciously left my 'roots' behind because _I hate them_. I won't say it again: _leave_."

Montparnasse's grin faded. "That's no way to treat an old friend, 'Ponine."

"I'm not your friend – and don't call me 'Ponine."

"How quickly you forget the people who made you what you are today." The man stepped closer, towering over her.

"_I _made myself who I am today. You had nothing to do with anything, except making me stronger and helping me realise how bad my life was."

"How bad your life was? So you're fucking _better _than us now?"

"Enough!" Eponine shouted. "I'm not doing this with you. I don't know how you found me or why you're here. I don't really care, as long as you leave now and never come back."

"Does that seem like something I'd do, 'Ponine?" The smirk returned.

The brunette stepped closer. "Stop calling me that."

"Listen, girl. I have your address. I can give it to your dad, or anyone at the inn, and you'll be fucked. So if I were you, I'd talk with me for a while, hear what I have to say. You _could _kick me out – I have no doubt you're still as strong as ever, even after that number your old man did on you – but I don't think you _should_."

Eponine squeezed her eyes shut. What could she do? If she made Montparnasse leave, her father might find her, and then she'd be completely screwed, not to mention Enjolras and Courfeyrac might get mixed up in it. The thought of spending even a minute longer with the man in front of her made her want to scream, but if she was to keep herself, and her roommates safe, she had to do it.

"Fine. Why don't we go eat somewhere?" Eponine suggested.

"Nah, I like it here. It's cosy."

"But my roommates-"

"I'd be interested to see how you explain me to them, actually. Old friend? Old lover? Maybe _current _lover, to make 'em jealous."

"Montparnasse..." Eponine warned.

The man sighed. "You used to say my name that way, back in the good old days... I don't see why you prefer this life." He started wandering around the kitchen. "It's so... dull. You live a life like everyone else – wake up, work, maybe go to school, come home, fuck your boyfriend and go to sleep. On and on it goes until you're stuck in a boring job you never wanted. Get married, pop out some kids, and watch them do the same shit _you _did until you die."

Eponine put her head in her hands. "That's not what life is like."

"Isn't it, though? It's the basics, anyway."

"I'd take that kind of life over my old one _any _day."

Montparnasse slapped a hand on his chest, feigning hurt. "I'm insulted, Eponine. Did our love mean nothing to you?"

The brunette chuckled. "I'd hardly call what we had _love_."

"What would you call it, then?" Montparnasse turned around to look her right in the eyes.

"Well, it was just a step up from hate. Maybe a little bit of lust thrown in there, but not much."

"Not much? Pfft."

"You didn't exactly rock my world."

"Bullshit. You loved it."

"Endured is a more accurate word."

"Listen to you!" The man cried. "You can pretend all you want that you hated your old life, but the truth is there's a part of you that loved it. The rush of living the way we do, it gets under people's skin. They can't get enough. It's only when you're an idiot that things go bad."

Eponine laughed, but this time it was bitter. "Sure. I loved it, Montparnasse. I loved waking up each morning with bruises blossoming on my skin. I loved spending every waking moment worrying that Gavroche was going to get caught up in my father's bullshit. I loved being beaten to a pulp if I slipped up. I loved being raped in the back room so dad could make a little extra cash-"

"Wait, what?" Montparnasse cut her off with a frown. "You were _raped_?"

"You should know. You started the whole fucking craze on the day I ended things with you."

"I – 'Ponine, I'm sorry about that. Really, I am. But I thought... I thought you were doing it to get money, like Azelma."

Eponine made an involuntary noise that was halfway between a sob and a laugh. "Oh, I was a whore too. Just not a willing one."

The man sat in a chair and cursed. "I didn't... fuck, I didn't know. I would've stopped it."

"Really? Would you have?" Eponine raised her voice. "Or would you have done the same thing you did when you saw the bruises on my arm and looked away? It's okay when I'm being beaten up daily, but raped? That's a whole different story! I tell you what, you're all fucking cowards back at the inn. I hate all of you. You wouldn't have done _anything_, 'Parnasse, because you're a coward and you're a _bad person_, not that it matters to you if you're good or bad. As long as there's cash in your pocket, right?"

During the speech, Montparnasse had raised to his feet angrily, and Eponine should have expected the slap. She'd had 22 years of strong hands and hard slaps, but this one still took the breath out of her for a moment. But unlike the rest of them, the giver of the hit immediately looked apologetic.

"God, Eponine, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"Don't touch me." Eponine cut him off. Her face was stinging – she hadn't been hit for a while and wasn't used to the pain anymore – but she refused to let him see that.

Montparnasse just looked at her for a second. Then he leaned in and pressed his lips against hers.

It took Eponine a moment to register what was happening, and by the time she was pushing him off, it was too late. He was looking at something behind her, and when she turned to see what (or who) it was, she saw Enjolras standing there.

"Enjolras." Eponine said, before realising she had no idea what to say. He apparently felt the same, because he just stared at the two of them without saying a word.

"You should go." Eponine said to Montparnasse, as forcefully as she could in her current state of shock. Instead of putting up a fight like she expected, the man nodded and made his way to the door, shutting it behind him.

"I'm sorry, that was-"

"It's fine." Enjolras cut her off briskly.

"Do you... want to sit down?" The girl suggested. "I'll make some tea."

"No thanks."

Eponine sighed. "Come on, can we talk about this?"

"I'm fine. I didn't realise kissing meant so little to you." Enjolras said coldly, turning away.

Eponine pulled him back around by his arm. "What do you mean?"

"Well, if you're going around making out with random people, then obviously _our _kiss didn't mean anything."

Eponine felt bewildered. Enjolras was almost acting... jealous.

"That was a completely different situation."

"Oh really? Would you have fucked him if I hadn't walked in?" The blonde spat.

"No! I didn't want to kiss him!"

"Really? Because it didn't seem that way from where I was standing!"

"That's because _you _don't know the whole story!"

"Enlighten me, Eponine, what _is _the whole story?"

"It's none of your business!" Eponine cried.

"Really? Because I kind of think it is, seeing as just last night, _we _were kissing."

"_He _kissed _me_, okay?"

Enjolras rubbed his eyes. "Sure. Fine, go with that."

"He did! Even if I kissed him, why do you care so much?"

"I don't."

"Bull_shit_."

"Okay, I care, but only because I would prefer not to get mono."

"Taking a leaf out of Joly's book, huh? How the fuck would you get mono?"

Enjolras gave her a look.

"Oh, I'm sorry, were you insinuating that I go around kissing everyone and will therefore give you mono? I'm sorry that I didn't catch that the first time, I just assumed that you weren't the kind of person who would slut shame. Guess I was wrong!"

"I'm not slut shaming, Eponine-"

"Oh yes, you really are. And you know what else you're doing? Being a shithouse friend!"

"I'm sorry! I didn't mean it that way."

"Well it sure sounded like you did!"

Just then, the front door opened, and Courfeyrac entered the apartment.

"Are you guys okay?" He said, looking around the room.

Eponine took a step back from Enjolras and put on a smile. "Yeah, we're fine."

"Are you sure? Because I could hear you yelling from downstairs."

"We're rehearsing." Enjolras said.

"Rehearsing what?"

"Just stuff for drama."

"Show me what you were working on." Courfeyrac grinned.

"Actually, I'm kind of tired." Eponine said quickly.

"It's 2 in the afternoon."

"Yeah, but I didn't get much sleep last night. I'm gonna go lie down for a bit before work."

"Okay." Courfeyrac frowned.

After one last glance at Enjolras, who was staring at his feet, Eponine walked out of the room.

* * *

She ended up in the bathroom instead of her bedroom, sitting on the floor with her back against the (locked) door, trying not to hyperventilate. She had never been that terrified of Montparnasse before.

_This life is making me soft. _Eponine thought to herself. _Is that good thing or a bad thing?_

Her face was still stinging from the slap and the afternoon's events kept racing through her mind. How had Montparnasse found her? Had he followed her? Had he seen her with Enjolras or Courfeyrac and followed them?

She realised that she hadn't properly convinced him not to tell her father and felt the air leave her lungs.

_What if dad comes here?_

First of all, she couldn't have any of her friends finding out about him, because they would instantly link her to the inn, and she didn't know how they'd react to that, but she was sure it wouldn't be good. Secondly, she would have to find another place to live. She couldn't stay at the apartment if her father found out she was living there.

"Maybe this was a mistake." Eponine said aloud, her voice echoing around the bathroom. The more she thought about it, the more she knew she was right. This whole thing had been a mistake – moving into the apartment, kissing Enjolras...

_Oops. Enjolras._

She hadn't dared to let herself think about him walking in on her and Montparnasse. There was way too much guilt there.

_But I tried to explain myself to him! _She argued in her own defense. _He wouldn't listen. It's not my fault. Maybe I should try talking to him later, though..._

"Eponine?" A voice came from outside. It was Courfeyrac.

"Uh, yeah?" She replied, getting up from the ground and praying he hadn't heard what she'd said.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, just... lady business." She said vaguely, trying to scare him off.

"Oh! I'll leave you to it. Sorry. Sorry."

_Looks like that worked._

Eponine exited the bathroom after a moment and went to get ready for work. She could get there a little early if it meant not having to be in the apartment worrying about her father and Montparnasse.

* * *

**A/N: ... Odd ending, right? I know it seems like Eponine didn't worry enough about Enjolras being jealous, but she has more important things to worry about right now! You have to understand that she's not scared of much... but she's terrified of her father. The time he beat her up (the really bad one that prompted her to move in with Courf and Enj) was probably the only time she'd ever properly stood up to him. He raised her. He knows her strengths and weaknesses. He can bring her down with a few words, and he's done it her whole life. Undermined her, etc. She is TERRIFIED of him.**

**There you go – a little mini-rant for you.**


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N: I AM REALLY SORRY THIS IS LATE MY INTERNET WENT AWAY FOR LIKE 5 DAYS AND I WAS SLOWLY DYING AND I'M JUST SORRY.**

**Okay. So. Filler chapter , we had so much drama in the last two chapters that I thought I better slow it down. Besides, I kind of miss Gavroche, and I wanted to include a bit of him in here... and by a bit, I obviously mean a tiny little bit.**

**By the way, I'd just like to officially state that though I mentioned Courf/Ep in the description, it's just going to be friendship until later on, and this ****_is _****an Enjolras/Eponine story. Courfeyrac is simply a pawn.**

**Anyway, I know you're all probably frustrated with me at the moment because Eponine and Enjolras just can't get their shit together, but it's going to take a while longer, so I wouldn't hold my breath if I were you. **

**By the way, I absolutely LOVE the reviews you guys are giving me! Some of them are so articulate and polite, and others are written by true tumblr users (GUYS YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW MUCH I LOVE HEARING THAT YOU'RE ALL 'ASDFGHJKL'ING OVER MY STORY LIKE OH MY GOD MORE TUMBLR REVIEWS PLEASE) and they're all great! I also appreciate the constructive criticism, but normally I have the next chapter already written and I won't make huge changes to it once it's done, so you won't see the changes you suggest straight away (or sometimes at all, because I like the way it is or something along those lines).**

**Wow, sorry, this is a big author note. Oops.**

* * *

Eponine went by as usual, only with Enjolras giving her the cold shoulder most of the time. Thankfully in their drama class, they weren't working on any scenes with Elizabeth and Mr Darcy, but Eponine was worried about the week after. They needed to nail this chemistry thing – the performance was in little more than four weeks, and her grade for this class depended on being able to pull off her part with Enjolras.

Of course, there was no way she was about to apologise to him. She hadn't done anything wrong. Montparnasse had kissed _her_, not the other way around, but Enjolras refused to see it that way. Eponine was now sure that he was jealous, but she had no idea why. She'd come to the conclusion that if a simple misunderstanding could lead to him ignoring him, he obviously didn't feel anything for her. He was actually being a pretty shitty friend at the moment. She really needed somebody to talk to, and again, she couldn't turn to anybody else, so she was left to stew in her own anger and fear.

However, she was getting particularly sick of Enjolras constantly brushing her off or leaving when she entered the room. Not only was he being completely overdramatic, he was also being very rude. She was not his girlfriend. They had no romantic relationship between them. So why was he acting as though she had cheated on him? And why did she feel as though she did?

The only thing that kept her from revealing the whole story (her family, 'Parnasse, the slap that came before the kiss) just to shock him into forgiving her was fear that he would go down to the inn and get himself, if not the rest of their friends, into a fight with her father. So instead, she plotted ways to help out Gavroche. It was better to distract herself with things that should've been her number one priority _anyway _than to dwell on things that she was supposed to be avoiding (like love and dating and making out with people who are 100% opposed to relationships).

When things had been going well, Eponine had been planning to ask Enjolras and Courfeyrac if they would mind Gavroche staying with them some nights. He wasn't getting much trouble from their parents, but that could change in a split second and then Gavroche would be in for it. The thought of it made Eponine shudder.

It wasn't all bad, though. Before he had started actively ignoring her, Enjolras had spoken with the dean about Eponine changing majors for a lower price, and the girl had gotten a long, slightly sympathetic but very helpful email as a result. They told her it would still cost her a fair bit of money, but the fee was much cheaper than usual, and Eponine had to wonder what Enjolras did to get her such a bargain. She had obviously thanked the man profusely, and promised to pay him back (though she had _no _idea how, and he had done so much for her already – paying for the drama class, letting her live rent-free in his apartment – that she was beginning to think she'd have to win the lottery and give it all to him to make up for it).

All of these thoughts were weighing down on Eponine, so despite the fact that it was only Wednesday, when she got home from her class at 12, she felt like she was about to pass out. Her limbs were heavy and her head was weak. She wondered whether or not asking Combeferre or Joly about whether she might be coming down with something would be a good idea. She decided not to question the latter, as he would probably avoid her for the following weeks, not wanting to catch whatever she'd come down with (and she really didn't need more people avoiding her), and made a note to ask Combeferre.

She realised she hadn't seen Gavroche for a week just as she flopped onto her bed to take a nap, and though sleep was calling to her, her brother was more important, so she dragged herself out of her apartment and began the walk to the inn, making sure that it was the right time to see him before she left (if she got there too late, her father would be up, and if she got there too early, her mother would be in; midday was the perfect time because her mother would be out shopping and her father would be passed out after a night of drinking and gambling). She texted the boy just to be sure, and he said he was the only one home (Gavroche had a phone because he often did errands for their father and needed to communicate, so it had been stolen from someone at the inn and given to him as a birthday present).

Eponine arrived at the inn twenty minutes later, and went around the side to get in through a window. When she had moved into Enjolras and Courfeyrac's apartment, she and Gavroche had planned a way for her to visit him whenever. There was a closet right next to his room that could be locked from the inside, and it had a window at the back. Eponine carried around the key to open the window. She would do so, and slip into the closet, and in there, a key to the door lay on the ground, which she would use to quietly open the door and tiptoe over to Gavroche's room.

She did all this particularly slow, because she was paranoid that Montparnasse or her father would jump out at her, but of course, it didn't happen, so she knocked on her brother's door and waited a few seconds before it opened.

"'Ponine!" Gavroche grinned. He put his arms around her waist and hugged her.

"I'm sorry it's been so long." Said Eponine, returning the hug.

"It's okay. Not much has been going on around here. Dad's annoyed that Montparnasse hasn't been around much, so he's been distracted."

Eponine froze.

"Sorry, I know you don't like talking about 'Parnasse."

"It's fine. Do you want to do something today?"

The boy nodded and pulled away from the hug. "Can we go to the café?"

Eponine sighed. She didn't particularly feel like dealing with any of her friends right now, especially not Enjolras, but she hadn't seen Gavroche all week...

"Please?"

That sealed the deal. It was impossible to say no to Gavroche sometimes. Eponine nodded, and told him to get ready.

* * *

The back room of the café was loud and slightly messy when they arrived. Gavroche, of course, didn't mind, but it was annoying Eponine slightly. However, they were all pretty drunk (which made Eponine think that bringing her 10 year old brother here was definitely a mistake, but then again, it wasn't like he hadn't seen this kind of thing before), so she couldn't really be mad at them for behaving more idiotic than usual.

"Eponine and Gav are here!" Jehan cried. This was met with a cheer from most of the room. Eponine looked around the room properly, and made a checklist of who would need to stay here until they sobered up. Joly would, as would Jehan and Courfeyrac. She could call a taxi for Combeferre, who normally took a while to get sober, and Cosette looked fine enough to take care of Marius. The last person surprised her a bit. Enjolras appeared to be drunk, and was lounging across a bench giggling. Grantaire, for once, was the only one sober (apart from Cosette).

"Oh my god, what happened here?" Eponine asked Grantaire, as Gavroche went over to talk to Courfeyrac.

"The world went upside down. _I_ was the one trying to get _them_ to slow down on the drinks. Why is Gavroche here?"

The brunette sighed. "He wanted to come. Obviously, bringing him here was a mistake. I should take him home and get these idiots sober enough to drive home. It's only 1, so I should have enough time. Jesus, who gets this drunk in the middle of the day?"

"Celebrating their mid-term results, I think. Explains why I'm immune."

"Shit, I haven't checked those yet. I'll do it as soon as I get home."

"Eponine, stop." Grantaire said. "How long has it been since you last saw Gavroche?"

"Well, a week, but-"

"Spend some time with him. If you want to get him out of here, do so, but don't let these idiots ruin your day with your brother, okay?"

Eponine nodded. "Speaking of idiots, why is Enjolras drunk? He can't have gotten any particularly shocking results on his mid-terms."

"I have no idea. He just started drinking as soon as he got here."

"Okay. I'm going to spend some time with Gavroche, get all these guys sober, and get them home by six, at which point I will drop my brother off and go home."

Grantaire scoffed. "What a day. I do not envy you."

"You'll be helping me out, genius."

* * *

Eponine managed to spend most of her time with Gavroche, but there were a number of times when Grantaire called her over to help collect beer bottles or get Courfeyrac off the table or something along those lines, and it was really beginning to frustrate her. Her friends had really shitty timing.

However, she was happy to have a friend like Grantaire who was helping her call taxis and get people to eat food. By six, everyone was on their way home (safely) except Enjolras, who Eponine was going to walk back to their apartment. Grantaire offered to drive Gavroche home, and because she had no other choice, Eponine told him to drop him off a street away from the actual address (which of course, nobody knew)

After giving her brother a long hug, she watched him leave, and then turned to Enjolras.

"Come on, idiot, let's get you home." She said. He let out a strange giggle in response, not yet sober. She sighed and put his arm around her shoulders, before beginning the walk home.

"You guys are really stupid, you know. I could've had a full day with Gavroche, and you choose today to all get drunk. He's seen enough of that as it is." Eponine said, knowing that Enjolras probably wouldn't remember this later.

"Sorry, Eponine." The man replied after a moment.

"It's fine. At least you're talking to me now."

"I'm sorry about that, too."

"Yeah, well, I'm sure you won't be when you sober up, but thanks."

"It was weird. I was kissing you and then this other guy was kissing you and that's never happened to me before."

Eponine almost laughed. On the few occasions Enjolras had gotten drunk, he had reverted into a childlike state. Apparently it was happening again.

"If you remember this later, can you not be mad at me? Because I did explain myself to you, and you wouldn't listen, so it's not all my fault."

"Okay."

Eponine opened her mouth to say something, and then shut it.

_Come on, it's not like he'll remember it later. Just say it._

"And just so you know... our kiss was more important than the kiss I had with that other guy."

Enjolras quiet for a second. "Promise?"

"Promise."

* * *

**A/N: ... This chapter was really short! Sorry. But I hope you liked the little fluffy bit at the end. Some people didn't like how angsty it got before, and I'm sorry for kind of blindsiding you with all that bad stuff... it's not over yet, but there will plenty of good stuff to go alongside it!**


	21. Chapter 21

**WARNING: ****_SERIOUS VIOLENCE AND MENTIONS OF RAPE IN THIS CHAPTER. DO NOT READ IF YOU CAN'T HANDLE IT._**

**A/N: I recently lost this story on my computer. As in ****_all _****of it. Somehow it got deleted. There were about four chapters that I'd written while my internet was off, and everything else was (thankfully) already posted, so I managed to save all of the other chapters. However, I've had to quickly rewrite this one. I apologise. It's been very frustrating.**

**Someone complained about too much angst in a review a few chapters ago... all I can say is that you're probably not going to like this chapter.**

**I'd just like to say that this chapter was extremely difficult to write for a number of reasons, and I hope that doesn't affect the writing or anything like that. Please hold on tight, things are going to get better for Eponine ****_and _****Enjolras, but I can't ignore the things that have yet to be dealt with, and I think Enjolras needs to feel a bit guilty for being so childish and ignoring Eponine. **

* * *

If Enjolras remembered what he and Eponine talked about as they walked home from the café that night, he was not showing it. He went straight back into ignoring her, which was very frustrating, and she was half tempted to confront him about what they talked about, but honestly, she wasn't quite ready to repeat some of the things she said to a drunk Enjolras.

He was really acting like a child now. She hadn't made any damn commitments to him, and she was not going to apologise for someone else kissing her! It wasn't like she initiated it! Anyway, she was still reeling from her encounter with Montparnasse, and she had other things to worry about. Enjolras ignoring her was just a fucking annoyance.

So the week continued on as it had been before. On Monday, though, at their 10th drama class, he actually acted like a professional and dropped the pissed-off persona for a lesson. It was refreshing, until Eponine went to walk home with him and he left in a hurry before she could catch up.

It was Tuesday night when things changed.

Eponine was sitting at the kitchen table, attempting to study, as Enjolras made coffee. The hiss of the machine was making it impossible to focus, so she got up and started making herself some ramen noodles. She made sure to lean over to get close to Enjolras as much as she could, just to make him particularly uncomfortable.

Finally, the coffee machine quietened down and Eponine took her bowl of noodles to the table. Enjolras had poured his coffee and looked ready to leave when Eponine's phone rang.

She immediately picked it up, expecting that to prompt Enjolras' departure, but it didn't. He had stopped in his tracks and was showing no signs of moving again.

"Hello?" Eponine said into the receiver, realising she didn't check caller ID.

"Eponine." It was Gavroche. "Can you come and get me?"

"Wait, Gav, what's going on?" Eponine said, getting to her feet.

"Azelma came home from school just now and said she's running away with 'Parnasse. She says they're in love or something, I dunno, but dad got really mad and got out his belt to hit her with it. I jumped in front of her just as he was about to do it and it got me instead. Then he started screaming and 'Zelma and I made a run for it. Montparnasse was outside on his motorbike and Azelma jumped on, and they rode off without me. I'm really scared that dad's going to find me. I'm in the park near that bakery we went to. Please come and get me."

"Fuck – yes, I'm coming Gav, I'm coming. Stay there and... if dad comes, hide somewhere and I'll deal with him when I get there. Don't let him find you before I get there. I'll see you soon, okay? You're going to be fine."

She hung up, heart racing, and turned to face Enjolras. "I don't give a shit how pissed off you are at me. My brother needs me and I don't have a car."

Enjolras just nodded, eyes wide, and grabbed his keys off a hook on the wall. Eponine pulled on the jacket she'd slung over a chair and they both rushed out of the apartment.

* * *

"Here, stop here." Eponine said as soon as she saw the park. Before Enjolras had even properly parked, she opened her door and got out. She ran into the park and looked around wildly.

"Gavroche?" She called out.

"Ah, 'Ponine. My darling betrayer."

Eponine's heart almost stopped.

_I know that voice._

"Papa." She whispered, turning to face where the voice had come from. There he stood, grinning widely and clutching a shaking Gavroche, who had a cut on his left cheek (from the belt, obviously). "Let him go."

"Not bloody likely, darling." Her father said, grin slipping away. "Not until you swear to never run off on me again."

"I'll do anything. Just don't hurt him."

"'Ponine, don't promise him anything." Gavroche called out, before a hand was slapped over his mouth.

In the distance, Eponine could see Enjolras getting out of his car and making his way over. She tried to make eye contact with him, tell him to get out of there, but all it did was make her father notice him.

"Eponine, what's going on?" Enjolras said, eyeing the scene and visibly tensing when he looked at her father holding Gavroche.

"Enjolras, _leave_." Eponine pleaded.

"Who's this, then? One of your rich friends? What's he hanging 'round you for?" Her father sneered.

"Dad, he's nobody."

"Nah, nah, I reckon he's someone. Is he your new pimp or somethin'?"

Enjolras straightened. "Pardon me, sir-"

"Enjolras, shut up and go." Eponine cut him off before he could finish.

"I'm not leaving." The blonde said firmly.

"How sweet." Eponine's father crooned. "Shoulda listened to her, mate. She'll bring ya nothing but trouble."

"It's you who brings trouble." Eponine spat.

"Listen, missy. I raised you. You _owe _me. Stop being a stubborn little bitch and get over here. Give your brother to this fancy man – little shit can't do anything, anyway. What we really need is you. You can convince Montparnasse to come back, and he'll bring Azelma. You're what makes it all go around, 'Ponine. We need you."

Eponine looked from her brother to her father in panic. What was she supposed to do?

"What if I can't get Azelma to come back?" She asked suddenly.

Her father shrugged. "Then you'll just have to take on the work of _two _whores. Can't make much of a difference."

"Do not speak to her that way." Enjolras growled.

"Oh jesus, have you tricked one of 'em into liking you, 'Ponine? She's not worth it, believe me, rich boy."

"How can you speak about your own daughter like that?"

"It's the truth."

"It most certainly is _not_-"

"Alright!" Eponine shouted. "I'll go with you, papa."

"'Ponine, you can't!" Gavroche said.

"I'll go with you, if you let Gav go with Enjolras and never bother them again." Eponine continued on, ignoring her brother.

"Eponine, what are you on about? You can't go with him!" Enjolras looked shocked.

"Enjolras, stay out of this." Eponine begged.

"Alright!" Her father roared, reaching into his pocket and taking out a pocketknife, which he then flipped open and held up to Gavroche's neck, prompting the boy to start whimpering. "Enough of this bullshit! Eponine, come over here and I'll give your brother to this man. You'll never have contact ever again."

"But you'll leave Gavroche alone." Eponine said, voice wavering at the sight of her brother crying.

"Fine, fine. I'll leave him alone."

"And never contact my friends."

"Yeah, whatever. Now get over here."

The brunette began walking over to her father, as Enjolras shouted. "Eponine, you can't do this!"

She tried to block out all the noise as she moved closer and closer to her father. She locked eyes with the man she'd been scared of her whole life, as he lowered the knife slightly. Just as Eponine was reaching out for her brother, a hand moved quick as lightning out of the corner of her eye, and when she turned, Enjolras had the knife in his hand, and he was pressing it against her father's neck, while holding him in place with his free hand.

"I know you, Thenardier. My father used to go to your inn and he'd take me with him. It was a nice place then. One day, though, we stopped going. Father said it had changed. He said it was dangerous." Enjolras spoke in a calm, level voice as Eponine grabbed onto Gavroche and held him against her, trying not to let him see the scene that was unfolding. "I know people who can shut down your inn. I could have you on the streets in a number of days. I could ruin you in the next hour with a few phone calls. But I'm a fair man. You will never contact Eponine or Gavroche _ever _again. No visits, no threats, no phone calls. You cut all ties with them. Don't go sending anybody else for them, either. You stay the _fuck _away."

The man had been reduced to a quivering mess in less than a minute. He nodded vigorously. Enjolras motioned with his head for Eponine to take Gavroche to the car, so she did so, hearing the thud that must've been her father falling to the ground.

Eponine didn't look back as she got Gavroche into the car and wrapped her arms around him. She tried not to cry as the boy broke down in sobs, but eventually, the tears came.

* * *

Eponine came into the kitchen, where Enjolras stood, staring at the wall.

"Gav's asleep." She said finally. Enjolras nodded, still looking at the wall. "Thank you. For... y'know, everything."

Enjolras shook his head. "Don't. It's nothing."

"Enjolras-"

"Why didn't you tell anybody?" He cut her off. "We could have helped.

"Why would I want my friends getting mixed up in that shit?"

"Because _you_ were mixed up in it! We could have – fuck, I don't know, but we could have done something!"

"I've been living that way my whole life with nobody helping."

"If I hadn't been there today-"

"I know!" Eponine shouted, before remembering her sleeping brother in the other room. "I know. I am so unbelievably grateful for what you did. He probably won't trouble us again, and if he does, then _I _will deal with it. But thank you."

Enjolras looked at her strangely, and then suddenly his eyes widened. "That time you fell down the stairs... it was him."

Eponine bit her lip but said nothing.

"Fucking hell, how long has he been doing that?"

"I don't know, since I was a kid. Better me than Azelma or Gavroche."

"Azelma? Who's that?"

"My sister. She hates me, though, and now she's run off with Montparnasse – god, she's so fucking stupid."

Enjolras frowned. "And... Montparnasse..."

"He's the guy who was here the other day. The one who kissed me."

Silence overtook the room for about a minute.

"You and him... were..."

"When I was younger, yes. For a while." Eponine admitted. "But it was a mistake."

"What was the deal with him?" Enjolras asked curiously.

"He was just... rough. Not half as bad as some of the men at the inn, but-"

"What does that mean?" The blonde asked immediately.

"I got around... I didn't mean to, but..."

"Is that what your father was referencing to?"

Eponine squeezed her eyes shut. "Fuck, it's complicated, okay?"

"It doesn't sound very complicated-"

"I never wanted it!" Eponine snapped. "Dad needed extra cash, and Azelma would sleep around for fun, but I... I never wanted it."

The color drained from Enjolras' face. "You were raped?"

Tears threatened to well in Eponine's eyes and she willed them away, but some spilled over, and that was apparently enough of an answer for Eponine.

"Oh god, I didn't..." Enjolras' face was screwed up. He approached Eponine and hesitantly placed a hand on her arm. She didn't bother to shake it off.

"I wasn't strong enough. Montparnasse started it off, and then I... god, they were all so fucking big and I couldn't get them off sometimes. When they were done, dad would ask them for money in return for... for what I did, and..."

Enjolras' arms wrapped around her and she collapsed into him.

"I couldn't stop." She mumbled into his arm. "Dad never hit anybody when he got extra money from it, so even if I could've fought them off, I would've been punished and I – I couldn't-"

Enjolras let out a 'shhh' as she buried her face in his chest and everything she'd been holding back for the past 10 years came tumbling out.

* * *

Courfeyrac entered the apartment at about 1am. Enjolras looked up at his roommate, then looked down again.

"Hey, still up?"

The blonde didn't respond. Eponine was in his bed, not that he could've slept anyway.

"Dude, what's up?" Courfeyrac asked, sounding concerned as he crouched beside where Enjolras was sitting.

"We've been blind." Enjolras finally whispered.

"What?" Courfeyrac said loudly.

"Eponine... this entire time, she's been fighting and trying to stay sane and we've just been fucking going along with the lies she's told us. Falling down stairs? Why the fuck did we ever believe that?"

"What's happened, Enjolras?"

The man looked up and stared at Courfeyrac. "She had a fucking slap mark on her cheek. I just thought she was flushed, but it was a fucking slap mark. He hit her and then forced a kiss on her and I ignored her for two weeks."

"What are you on about? Enjolras, is it Ep? Is something wrong with Eponine?"

Enjolras laughed bitterly. "Yeah. Yeah, there is. And I think there's something wrong with me, too."

* * *

**A/N: If you don't like angst... my deepest apologies. The next chapter deals with the angst a bit, but there is some nice fluff at the end, so stick around please?**

**Sorry if this was sudden... I needed to deal with this part of Eponine's life, y'know?**

**xox**

**abigailbelleofkilronan**


	22. Chapter 22

**A/N: This story has hit 200 reviews! Yay.**

**My beta (love-never-dies-90) is great and puts up with me (and my sporadic Internet connection).**

* * *

Eponine woke on Wednesday morning in somebody else's bed. She quickly recognised the room to be Enjolras' and vaguely wondered what she was doing in his bed before remembering what had happened the night before. The thought of facing a now informed Enjolras made her want to die, but she couldn't leave them to look after Gavroche, so she slowly got herself up (she was still dressed in yesterday's clothes) and made her way to the kitchen, where Courfeyrac and Enjolras both sat at the table (which was odd, because Courfeyrac was barely ever up at this time of morning). They looked like they were deep in conversation, but Eponine never heard what they were discussing because they stopped talking as soon as the creak of the kitchen floor gave her away.

"Morning." She croaked, voice sore from crying herself to sleep the previous night. Both her roommates stared at her for a few seconds.

"Morning." Enjolras replied.

"Um. I'm going to make some breakfast for Gav."

"We already did." Courfeyrac jumped in. "Pancakes. Breakfast in bed. But there are towels, so he won't ruin your covers."

"Thanks, guys. You didn't have to, but thanks." Eponine looked around the room before deciding to cut to the chase. "Are we going to get this over with, or do I have to suffer through more awkward silence?"

Courfeyrac looked taken aback, while Enjolras just sighed.

"I think we need to talk with you, Eponine." The blonde said, motioning for her to sit down.

Eponine crossed her arms and made no move to sit. "Then talk."

"How long has this been going on?" Courfeyrac asked.

"I don't see how that's any of your business."

"We're your friends."

"If you really were my friends, you would leave me alone."

"That's bullshit." Enjolras said. "Friends help each other."

Eponine took in a deep breath. "Who else have you told?"  
Her two friends shared a look.

"We told Combeferre to tell the others a few minutes ago. You'll probably be getting calls soon." Courfeyrac admitted.

"I can't believe you two! You had absolutely _no _right to tell anyone! This is my personal business – it's my _life_, not just a fucking story for you to tell at dinner parties!"

"We're not-" Courfeyrac was cut off by the sound of the phone in the hall ringing. He glanced at Enjolras before leaving the room, presumably to pick up the phone.

"Eponine... I know it doesn't seem like this was the best thing we could've done..." Enjolras began.

Eponine glared at him. "You don't know the half of it. Do you know how many lies I've told over the years to keep this part of my life separate from you guys? Do you know how hard I've worked? And now it's all for nothing. I really don't think you know how this feels."

"But isn't it better to not have to keep it a secret?"  
"Sure, for a second I was relieved. No more sneaking around and lying and using another name. But that wore off quick. I've spent so long imagining what it would be like if any of you found out. I imagined each of your reactions, every detail of them. It used to get me through the night, thinking about one of you beating up my father or Montparnasse and getting me and Gavroche out of there. But I realised that I don't need saving. I've gotten through this much on my own, and I think that makes me pretty fucking brave."

Enjolras stood up slowly. "I'm not trying to save you. I'm trying to help you. There's a difference. Nobody's going to do anything drastic, okay? Your dad is sorted, and if Montparnasse ever comes back... well, we'll do what we have to, but that's it."

"You don't understand, Enjolras." Eponine said, trying to lower her voice to a quieter tone so Gavroche didn't hear. "You and Courfeyrac are already treating me differently. I can't stand people feeling sorry for me, and as soon as everyone finds out... they'll never look at me the same. They'll never talk to me the same. Everyone will be walking on eggshells because they think I'm going to have some emotional breakdown, and I can't go through that. You guys are the best friends I've ever had, but if you start treating me like some charity case, I'm not going to be able to hang out with you anymore."

Enjolras walked over slowly and placed his hands on Eponine's shoulders. The contact, though minimal, was so comforting that Eponine could've just fallen into him (she didn't, of course).

"Just give them today." He pleaded. "Give them one day of worrying about you and then you can tell them all to fuck off."

"Enjolras..." Eponine began. The man in front of her tightened his grip on her shoulders. "Fine."

"Thank you, Ep." Enjolras sighed, before wrapping his arms around her. She did the same to him and relaxed into his warm body. After a moment, he spoke again. "I'm so, so fucking sorry for all the shit I gave you about that kiss with Montparnasse."

"It's fine."

"No, Ep, it's not."

"Shut up. It's okay."

Enjolras pulled back from Eponine and locked eyes with her. He seemed to be searching her face for something. She wondered what it was.

The brunette was about to say something when Courfeyrac's voice made her jump. "Eponine, I know you're annoyed, but..."

"One day." Eponine cut him off. "I will take everyone's hugs and 'I'm so sorry's for _one _day. Then I'm done. I'm not going to pretend this shit didn't happen, but I will not be spoken to like a child who's broken her arm."

"Okay. Well, I know you have a class at some point today..."

Eponine checked the clock, which read 9:27. "In half an hour, actually."

"What about I hang with Gavroche today? Then after your class you can go the café, get all the hugs out, and come back here in time for dinner with Gav."

Eponine sighed, and then nodded. "Fine. But... be careful around him, okay? That thing with my dad probably freaked him out. Normally I'd stay with him, but I can't miss this class. Maybe just watch some movies or help with his homework. He goes back to school next week and I'm sure he hasn't done any of it these holidays."

"Sure. I'll take care of him."

She packed up her laptop and with a quick goodbye, left the apartment.

* * *

As soon as Eponine stepped into the back room of the café, every head turned to look at her. Everyone was there, even Cosette and Marius, who had lately been so busy apartment hunting that they hadn't had much time to hang out.

The brunette was half tempted to turn around and leave, but she had promised Enjolras she would do this for one day, and if she got it over and done with, they would have to leave her alone after. So, she made her way over to the big table where everyone was sitting and instead of taking a seat, just stood there.

"Hey." She said weakly.

Cosette stood up and walked over before engulfing Eponine in a hug.

"I'm so sorry." The blonde whispered.

"Seriously, it's fine. It's over now." Eponine replied when her friend finally released her.

Within seconds, Grantaire was hugging her almost as tightly as Cosette had.

_This is the last time I promise something to Enjolras._ Eponine grumbled silently.

* * *

Nine hours later, Eponine was helping Enjolras do the dishes. Gavroche was sleeping in Eponine's room again, having fallen asleep there after dinner.

"God, today was exhausting." Eponine said as Enjolras handed her a plate to dry and put away, breaking the strange silence that had fallen after Gavroche had left the kitchen.

"I shouldn't have asked you to do this." The blonde frowned.

"I agreed to it, idiot."

"Yeah, but-"

"Stop. It's fine." Eponine said, flicking some soap suds at her friend.

"So... are we just going to pretend this never happened, then?" Enjolras asked.

The brunette stopped her work and sighed. "No. I want to deal with this the way normal people do, now that it's out in the open and everything, but at this point... that just involves getting on with my life and not feeling sorry for myself."

"You know it's okay to grieve, right?"

Eponine packed away the last dish and turned to Enjolras, who was taking off his gloves and sorting through the mail Courfeyrac had left on the counter before heading out on a date earlier that evening.

"Grieve what? The life I could've had? The things I could've done to protect myself, and my brother, and Azelma? I've spent too long thinking about what could've been with Marius, and it's gotten me nowhere. I just kind of want to be happy for a while."

"Well, um... maybe you should read this." The man handed Eponine a letter with a strange smile on his face.

Eponine quirked an eyebrow and took the envelope.

"It's just a bill... but look who it's addressed to."

Eponine did so.

_To the residents: L. Courfeyrac, A. Enjolras, E. Jondrette_

It took her a moment to take in. "The apartment is under my name, too?"

"I changed it on Monday. You can change your last name to Thenardier if you'd like."

"No, I prefer Jondrette, but... Enjolras, I can't stay, now that Gavroche is here. I'm going to be a huge burden and now that I've paid the first part of my fee for changing majors next semester, I'm not going to be able to pay the rent for ages." She said, handing him back the envelope.

"You can pay me back when you're a famous actress." He smiled, placing the envelope and the other letters on the counter.

She laughed. "Right. Well, I'm going to turn in early."

"Um... where are you going to sleep?"

Eponine froze. Gavroche was in her bed.  
"Oh. Shit, I didn't think about that. I guess I'll just crash on the couch."

"You can sleep in my bed, if you want." Enjolras offered after a few moments of silence.

"I can't kick you out of your own room again, Enj."

"You don't have to. My bed's pretty big. I mean, we could... share, I guess? But if you're not comfortable doing that, I totally understand."

_Is he asking me to sleep with him?_

_Great wording. Freudian slip, much?_

_Shut up. Oh my god, these conversations with myself have _got _to stop, I'm going crazy._

"I didn't mean to weird you out. I just thought it'd be better than couch. Never mind." Enjolras said just then.

"No!" Eponine cried. "I mean - if you're okay with it... your bed is pretty comfortable."

"Okay. Cool."

A slightly awkward silence hovered in the air.

"Well, I'm going to get changed in the bathroom." The brunette said, making no move to leave.

"I'll see you a minute then." Her friend replied, eyes boring into hers.

"Okay."

Finally Eponine's legs started functioning. She made her way out of the kitchen and into her bedroom, tiptoeing so she wouldn't wake her brother, where she grabbed a singlet and some loose shorts and tiptoed out again. After getting changed in the bathroom and doing her hair and teeth (the former was in a messy bun), she stared at herself in the mirror. She hadn't really been thinking straight when she'd chosen her clothes. These were incredibly revealing and would probably make things more awkward than they already were with Enjolras. Still, she was worried that if she went into her bedroom to get another set of clothes, she'd lose the nerve to even do this in the first place.

_It's not that a big of a deal. _She told herself firmly. _You're just friends sharing a bed. He's probably going to be as far away from you as he can be. Calm the fuck down._

Eponine knocked on Enjolras' door before she entered, and the knock was met with a cough and a 'come in'.

The blonde was lying in the bed, book in hand, and... shirtless?

_Huh. I would've never guessed he was the type to sleep shirtless._

She tried not to gape at him too obviously, but it was a pretty nice sight, and he was staring at her too, so she had an excuse. Besides, it wasn't the first time she'd ever seen him shirtless. She smiled at him nervously as she walked over to the bed and got under the covers.

"I was going to read for a bit. Do you mind?" Enjolras asked. She shook her head and then turned away from him. The only light was the lamp and that was on the bedside table on his side of the mattress. She tried to relax her body and think of calming things, but it hadn't exactly been the most relaxing few days of her life, and having a shirtless man lying next to her wasn't helping.

Minutes that felt like hours passed by, and eventually there was a 'click' and the lamp turned off.

"Ep?" Enjolras' voice came through the darkness.

"Yeah?"

"I was just checking if you were awake."

Eponine chuckled. "I am."

"Right. Um... are you okay? After everything that's happened, I'd probably be a bit... I don't know, freaked out or something."

"I'm okay. I don't want another damn spot of pity, but other than that, I'm fine. I feel safer than I have in years."

"I'm glad."

"Me too. Thank you for the other night."

"What do you mean?"  
"When I told you everything... I really needed to get that out, so, uh, thanks."

"No problem. And I really am sorry about being so childish in response to walking in on you and Montparnasse."

"Don't be sorry. I told you it's fine."

"Okay."

"Night."

"Night."

* * *

**A/N: Yay. Fluff. (Kinda)**

**My internet is going on and off so if the next chapter is late, you'll know why.**


	23. Chapter 23

**A/N: Internet has been off. *Deep sigh* ... But I'm fine. My beta (love-never-dies-90) helped me through. Sorry for the lateness.**

**Also, argh. I struggled with this chapter a lot so it's short. Forgive me.**

* * *

When Eponine woke, she was struck by how warm and comfortable she felt. It had been years since she had felt this comfortable and serene in a bed that wasn't hers –

Wait. She wasn't in her bed.

Eponine opened her eyes and blinked a few times as they adjusted, before scanning the room. It was familiar looking – the walls were an off-white color, the floor was gray carpet, and the only pieces of furniture in the room were a desk, a chair, a small wardrobe, and the bed Eponine was lying on. She was waiting for her brain to catch up with her eyes and figure out where she was when something behind her stirred and she almost screamed. She craned her neck to turn and see who it was.

_Enjolras._

The blonde was sleeping soundly, and he looked remarkably younger without his usual deep-set frown and stern expression. Eponine spent far too long staring at him before she realised that the feeling of warmth was _him, _because he was pressed up against her and his arm was flung over her waist, where it rested comfortably.

_Which one of us did this? _Eponine wondered, trying not to think about how close she was to Enjolras. _Did he? Did I? Oh god, what if I did it in my sleep and he's going to be weird about it? I have to get out of here before he wakes up._

Resisting the urge to fall back to sleep – there was barely any light coming through the window, so it had to have been pretty early – Eponine wriggled away from her friend. (Could she even use that word to describe him anymore? What they had felt like more than friendship.) She swung her legs around and quietly placed her feet on the ground, doing some deep breathing for a moment before standing up and tiptoeing out of the room as fast as she could.

* * *

Enjolras breathed a sigh of relief as Eponine closed the door behind her. He had been lying there with his arm around her for what had seemed like hours until finally she'd woken up and he'd feigned sleep to see how she chose to deal with the situation. A part of him was disappointed when she left him so quickly, but it was better this way. He hadn't had the strength to take his arm away from her. Well, he'd had the physical strength, obviously, but each time he tried to pull away from Eponine, his mind had screamed at him to stop. It was very odd. He had never enjoyed human contact so much.

_Except for that kiss. _He reminded himself, before sitting up in bed and slapping himself back to reality.

"We are _friends_." Enjolras said out loud. "We are friends and that's it."

A small part of him laughed internally. _This whole 'denial thing' is really getting old._

"I am _not _in denial!" He cried, before realising how loud he had been speaking and clapping a hand over his mouth. Nothing else happened, so he slowly started to get out of bed, eager to put the morning's events behind him.

_Far _behind him.

* * *

After having a long hot shower and trying to gather her thoughts, Eponine got dressed and made her way to the kitchen, only to find Enjolras, Courfeyrac and Grantaire standing in her kitchen. Enjolras and Grantaire were both glaring at each other, as Courfeyrac watched them with a worried expression.

"Grantaire, no." Enjolras was saying. "She's been through enough."

"If anyone should be helping her, it should be me." Grantaire replied angrily.

"Just give her some time."

"You don't get to decide how much time she needs."

"And you do?"

"Actually, I do." Eponine cut in, walking forward so she stood in between them.

The expressions on her friends' faces both immediately softened. "Hey, Ep." Grantaire said with a small wave. She nodded and smiled at him.

Enjolras coughed. "Grantaire was just leaving."

"Didn't sound like it." Eponine said.

"I wasn't leaving. I just got here-"

"He woke me up." Courfeyrac grumbled.

"But his royal highness had something to say about that."

"I promised Eponine that she'd only have to deal with one day of people fawning over her, and I intend to keep that promise." Enjolras snapped.

"Boys, as much as I _don't _love your idiotic banter, I just woke up. I'm not ready to deal with your arguments yet." Eponine said with a sigh. She turned to Grantaire. "Breakfast?"

"My treat." Grantaire grinned.

"Gavroche should probably come too. I barely saw him at all yesterday. Is that cool with you?"

"Of course, I love that kid. Shall I go wake him?"

The girl nodded and thanked her friend as he left the room.

"Eponine..." Enjolras began.

"You don't get a say in who I hang out with. I get that you were just trying to keep your side of the bargain, but it's fine. Thank you for... y'know, everything." Eponine looked into the blonde's eyes and tried to express everything she was thinking.

_Thank you for letting me sleep in your bed and wake up in your arms, and for taking in Gavroche, and _me _for that matter, and for helping me change my major and getting my father to leave me alone, and for paying for my drama class, and... for making my life a little brighter._

Eponine doubted that he got all that from one look, but the man nodded and gave her a small smile, before walking over to the kitchen table and taking a seat, motioning for Courfeyrac to join him. Grantaire returned a few minutes later with a sleepy looking Gavroche trailing behind him.

"He's still in his pajamas." Eponine pointed out.

"It's seven in the morning. You can't expect him to be dressed _as well as _out of bed."

Eponine rolled her eyes and ruffled Gavroche's already messy hair (which prompted the boy to groan in protest and try to swat her hand away).

"You guys want to come?" Eponine asked.

"Homework." Enjolras replied.

"I'm going to try and get back to sleep." Courfeyrac said, shooting a glare at Grantaire, who just chuckled and rolled his eyes.

"Okay." Eponine shrugged.

She grabbed her bag and the three of them made their way out of the apartment. As Eponine was closing the door, she heard Courfeyrac say something along the lines of: "The possessive boyfriend persona is not a good look for you."

And then there was a thump, and a "shut the fuck up" from Enjolras.

* * *

"No, no, no, stop right there." Fantine interrupted the scene for what seemed like the billionth time, and Eponine fought the urge to throw her script to the ground in frustration. It wasn't like she needed it anyway – her director had insisted she learn the part off by heart, and she had done so (in a surprisingly quick amount of time).

It was about 6pm on Monday night. A few days had passed since Eponine's friends had all found out about her family life, and now she was back into the normal routine of things. However, this particular rehearsal was doing her head in, and from the look on Enjolras' face, it was doing his in too.

"I wish you guys could pull yourselves out of your heads and come over to the audience to see what's going wrong." Fantine sighed, walking up the steps and stopping on the last one. "You're perfect in all the love-hate scenes, and those are important... but these are the moments where we see the depth to the characters. These are the moments where Darcy and Elizabeth start to feel something for each other... other than hatred, of course. Just... go from the top, and try to really think about this interaction. Think about what it means, about the part it plays in this whole story, and do it again."

Eponine locked eyes with Enjolras. The two shared a grimace before taking their places on stage. In this scene, their characters were sharing their first dance together. Eponine placed one hand on Enjolras' shoulder and the other in his hand, and he positioned his hands in the right way before they started swaying. The real dancing would come later, according to Fantine. They had to get the dialogue right first.

"The music is well played do you not think?" Eponine began the scene, trying to let herself get lost in the head of Elizabeth Bennett. She let silence fall for a moment. "It is your turn to say something now, Mr Darcy. I talked about the dance, and you ought to make some kind of remark on the size of the room, or the number of couples."

"I quite assure you that whatever you wish me to say will be said." Enjolras – Mr Darcy – replied.

"Very well, that reply will do for present. Now we may be silent."

"Do you talk by a rule then when you are dancing?"

"I have always, Mr Darcy, seen a great similarity in the turn of our minds. We are each of an unsocial taciturn disposition, unwilling to speak unless we expect to say something that will amaze the whole room-"

"Nope." Fantine called out, halting all movement. The whole group seemed to collectively sigh, as Eponine and Enjolras broke apart once more. "We don't have time to go over that again, because class is about to end, but I want you two to meet up before next Monday and practice this scene. Just try to make it work. Oh – how about you do it in silence? Just for now, of course. Do It the way you did your first activity together. Try to communicate with each other without actually saying anything. Say the lines silently, say them with your eye contact, your dancing. Then add the words and see if they fall into place. If not, we may have to cut this scene."

Eponine sighed heavily and nodded. She jumped off the stage and made her way over to where she'd left her things, before collecting them all slowly. She noticed Enjolras hovering in the doorway, assumedly waiting for her to join him on their walk home. She locked eyes with him and nodded. She had started to trudge towards the door when a hand caught on her arm. It was Fantine, and she was speaking.

"Eponine, I know you've been trying to your hardest, and I'm not trying to pin it all on you, but... I can tell you're holding back."

Eponine's breath caught in her throat for a moment but Fantine continued.

"It's not any of my business, but for the sake of the play, whatever you're holding onto... let go of it. I don't know if you have issues with Enjolras or with the script or with your character, but if it prevents you from performing to the best of your ability, you really need to not let it get to you."

Eponine looked at her feet. She had been hoping nobody would notice.

Throughout the days' rehearsals, Eponine had been pulling back, trying not to let herself relax into the comforting warmth that came with Enjolras. Her feelings had been all over the place lately, but that day, after waking up in his bed (in his _arms_), she was feeling extremely skittish. Right at that moment, though, standing with Fantine as the man in question waited in the halls for her, she had a moment of clarity, and she realised exactly what was going on.

She liked Enjolras. In a decidedly 'not-just-friends' way. It was different to how she had felt about Marius for so many reasons (namely that this was genuine attraction and not just a fantasy) and that both excited her and terrified her, because she'd never really felt this way about someone before. Of course, she was aware that this probably should've become clearer to her much earlier, but she'd been so stubborn and unwilling to accept her own emotions that she'd forcefully pushed the idea from her mind. Only now was she realising that she was still pushing, but this time, it wasn't because she didn't want to know how she felt. It was because she knew all too well how she felt, and how Enjolras would react. Well, she actually had no clue how he would react, but she suspected it would be something along the lines of a freak out and a rejection and the termination of their friendship all rolled into one. He _had _kissed her... but so had Marius (that was more of a peck, but whatever), and that definitely hadn't ended

Although, it was nice to entertain the insane idea that he might like her back (god, she felt so childish thinking about it like that). She imagined him looking her right in the eyes and telling her how he felt before pulling her to him and kissing her.

"Eponine?" Fantine's voice shattered the image in Eponine's mind, bringing her back to reality.

The girl nodded, a million things running through her brain, and thanked Fantine, before leaving to join the man who was the source of all her problems.

* * *

**A/N: Well, Eponine's finally realised what we all figured out ages ago... Enjolras is not quite there yet. I promise the updates will go back to their normal timeline. Really sorry for the delay.**


	24. Chapter 24

**A/N: Guys, I am so sorry, but updates are probably not going to be regular for the next couple chapters. I know it seems like I have a different excuse each time I upload a chapter, but just believe me when I tell you that this time, it's unavoidable.**

**_Really _****really sorry.**

**(On a happier note, someone made a graphic of my fanfic. I reblogged it on my tumblr, .com, if you want to see it.)**

* * *

"Come on, Enjolras. Back me up here."

The man in question looked up from his essay and was met with the expectant faces of his friends. It was Courfeyrac who had spoken. "Uh..."

Truth be told, he hadn't really been listening to their conversation. It had started out interesting – Combeferre had sparked the conversation by mentioning the current conflict in North Korea – but eventually, it had drifted over to the subject of girls and Enjolras had tuned out. He had more important things to worry about – he had so much work to do that it was a wonder he was coping as well as he was – and besides, he didn't have anything to add to the conversation because he wasn't romantically involved with anyone.

Just as that thought trailed off, a name and a face popped into his mind.

Eponine.

_No. _He thought to himself firmly. _We're not romantically involved. Even if I did feel that way – which I _don't _– she's still pining over Marius. She would never feel the same way. At all. Ever._

Courfeyrac rolled his eyes as the blonde put down his pen and lifted up his cup of coffee to take a sip. "Eponine - she's bangable, right?"

Enjolras inhaled almost half his drink and then proceeded to choke on it. He spluttered for almost a full minute, trying to ignore the chuckles of his friends as he felt his face flush. Had Courfeyrac been reading his mind?

"I really don't think I'm the right person to ask about this." He said finally.

"Oh, come on. We've seen you checking her out." Courfeyrac replied with another eye-roll.

"Excuse me?"

"Just answer the question. If you were into that kind of thing..."

"What kind of thing?" Enjolras cut off his roommate, trying to keep calm. He couldn't believe they still talked about Eponine this way. She was their friend, their equal, yet they were discussing her like a piece of meat.

"Don't act like you don't know what I mean. Would you or wouldn't you?"

"... With Eponine? I... we really shouldn't be discussing this. She's our friend." Enjolras fought to keep himself from stuttering.

"We're just having a bit of fun, Enjy." Jehan said with a smile.

"Come on, just answer." Joly insisted.

Enjolras suddenly stood up, glaring at his friends with a kind of anger in him that he'd never felt before.

"No." He said loudly. "I refuse to participate in such a conversation."

The boys looked a bit shell-shocked for a moment. Only Courfeyrac dared to speak again.

"Right. You're only saying that because you don't want to admit that-"

"What?" Enjolras whipped his head around to face Courfeyrac, who visibly froze.

"Never mind."

Enjolras looked around at all his friends, particularly at Combeferre, who would usually never take part in this kind of discussion, but his friend only shrugged with an apologetic look on his face.

"Eponine is our friend." Enjolras found himself saying. "She's... we shouldn't be talking about her like she's-"

"What?" Grantaire suddenly cut him off. "A member of the female gender? The guys have talked about girls this way for years and you've never cared. Why do you suddenly care?"

Enjolras opened his mouth and shut it again.

Grantaire continued. "Seriously, Enjolras. _Why do you care? _She wouldn't give a shit if she knew we were talking about this. She'd probably just laugh at us. So what is it that's gotten you so pissed off?"

The café fell silent.

_I'm pissed off because Eponine deserves better. _He wanted to say. _She deserves someone who will care for her and help her but not smother her. She deserves happiness, and none of you are going to give it to her, so what gives you the right to talk about her like she's just another girl? She's not. She's more than that, and none of you understand that as much as I do._

Enjolras shut his eyes and wondered where all that had come from.

_I'm just being a good friend._

"Right, I'm out of here." The man said, realising that he hadn't spoken since Grantaire had finished his little rant. He collected his things quickly and briskly made his way to the exit.

"Enj..." Combeferre began, rising to stop him.

Enjolras didn't hear what his friend had to say, because he was already out the door.

* * *

Once in his car, Enjolras tried to collect his thoughts. He knew his friends would have never let him live it down if he had actually said what he had been thinking, but somehow he felt like he should've said it anyway. Why was this all so confusing? Why Eponine affecting him like this all of a sudden? He was reminded of one of his lines in Pride and Prejudice –

"Fuck." He said aloud, cutting his inner dialogue off. He had completely forgotten that he and Eponine had to get that scene from act 1 right, and their next drama lesson was in a few hours, as it was Monday. He quickly got out his phone and sent her a text.

_Are you at home?_

She replied quickly. _Yes, why?_

_I just realised we completely forgot to work on our scene for drama._

_Shit._

_Yeah. So shall we work on it when I get home and then go together?_

_Okay._

_I'll be there soon._

There was no reply (which was odd, seeing as Eponine always loved to have the last word), so he turned on the car and speedily drove home.

* * *

Eponine only had to wait five minutes before Enjolras burst into the apartment, which made her suspect that he had broken some speed-limits on his way over, probably because he was worried about getting the scene right. She would have been worried about that too, if she weren't so busy freaking out about her newly discovered crush on him.

As she watched him take off his coat and place it on the table, Eponine tried to figure out how she was supposed to act around him now.

_Should I act the way I did before? Or should I tone down the jokey flirting? I can't embarrass myself the way I did with Marius. I have to be discrete, otherwise he'll figure it out and I'll be completely fucked. _

Enjolras suddenly noticed her, and smiled. "How was your day?"

"Fine. You?"

His forehead creased slightly. No doubt he was confused that she was acting so snappy. "Pretty good."

"Shall we get started?" Eponine avoided Enjolras' eyes as she spoke.

"Sure. I'll get my script."

"Use mine. I know this scene off by heart now." The brunette gestured to her script, which was on top of the kitchen table.

Enjolras nodded and thanked her, picking up the script.

Eponine left the kitchen and made her way into the lounge room, with Enjolras following behind her, before shifting the coffee table so that there was more space. She reluctantly got into the waltzing position, placing her hand on Enjolras' shoulder and letting him hold her other hand, trying to ignore the way his skin felt against hers.

"The music is well played do you not think?" Eponine began the scene.

"It is your turn to say something now, Mr Darcy. I talked about the dance, and you ought to make some kind of remark on the size of the room, or the number of couples."

"I quite assure you that whatever you wish me to say will be said."

"Very well. That reply will do for present, now we may be silent."

A pause.

"Do you talk by the rule then when you are dancing?"

"I have always, Mr Darcy, seen a great similarity in the turn of our minds. We are each of an unsocial taciturn disposition, unwilling to speak unless we expect to say something that will amaze the whole room, and be handed down to posterity with all the éclat of a proverb."

Fantine had never let them continue past this point, and Eponine had to wonder what they were doing wrong. It wasn't _amazing, _but it wasn't awful either, and Enjolras barely needed the script, so the dancing – or rather, swaying – was quite nice (even though Eponine was trying to put as much space between herself and Enjolras as possible).

"This is no very striking resemblance of your character, I am sure. How near it may be to mine I cannot pretend to say."

Eponine had to admit that Enjolras did an incredible job of playing Mr Darcy.

"I have recently had the pleasure of forming a new acquaintance with a childhood friend of yours." As the script directed, they broke apart before she spoke again. "A Mr Wickham."

"This isn't working." Enjolras said abruptly.

It took Eponine a moment to realise what he meant. "I don't get it. What are we doing wrong? I don't see what we're doing wrong."

"Eponine... it's you."

"_Excuse me?_" She cried, taken aback.

"I'm telling you this because you need to hear it." Enjolras replied, grabbing her wrist gently. It took all her strength to not melt into his touch. "You're probably not aware of it, but you're holding back. Mr Darcy doesn't disgust Elizabeth – I don't know if that's how _you _feel about _me, _and those feelings are bleeding through and affecting your acting, but Elizabeth is not disgusted in his scene. It's... I don't know how to explain it."

"What am I doing wrong?" Eponine asked finally, hyperaware that he was still touching her wrist.

"Your lines are perfect. It's just your body language. Do you have a problem with me? Is that what's going on here? Because that would be a completely different issue-"

"No." Eponine cut him off. "It's not about you. I just need to get over my own issues."

Enjolras straightened. "Ep, I understand if this is because of Montpa-"

"Don't finish that sentence." Eponine warned.

The blonde raised his hands in mock surrender.

"Okay..." He said, slowly pacing around the room. "Maybe we should try that thing Fantine suggested. Maybe we should do the scene without the words, and just try to get it."

Eponine sighed and nodded, before gesturing for Enjolras to come back to their starting position.

They started again, but this time, Eponine tried to let herself relax. She was not Eponine Thenardier, she wasn't even Eponine Jondrette – she was Elizabeth Bennett.

Enjolras seemed to lose himself in his role as well, his face taking on an even sterner look than he usually wore, his hands grasping her softly, and yet in a way that made her think he couldn't stand touching her. For a second she thought that maybe he was just so disgusted with her that he just couldn't hide it, but then she reminded herself that in the past few weeks, he had been touching her more and more – hands on her arms and shoulders, head bent close to hers as they worked on lines, the way he always seemed to move closer to her as the walked down the street – and wondered if it was possible that he...

_No. Don't kid yourself._

Eponine took in a deep breath and tried to focus on the scene. She remained civil, until the moment in the script where they broke apart. Then she let a glare overtake her face, let her eyes bore into Enjolras' as they began to move closer to eachother slowly.

The tension built and built until they were inches away from eachother and-

"That was good." Enjolras said, suddenly moving away.

"Yeah." Eponine averted her eyes.

"Again?"

"Okay."

* * *

Later, as they drove to rehearsals in silence, Eponine could still feel the tension crackling between them like electricity.

It was slightly terrifying.

* * *

**A/N: I'm sorry this was so late (and so short). Agh.**


	25. Chapter 25

**A/N: A few things before we start:**

**1) Someone messaged me about this just after the last chapter was posted, and I did answer, but I thought I'd clarify for all of you. Eponine is 22, Enjolras is 24, Gavroche is 10, and the others vary.**

**2) This is set in Paris – well, I think. I always imagined it in Paris, but I didn't really do any proper research so I've left all the university names/café names/street names/etc. blank. Hope that doesn't bother anybody!**

**3) I have no clue what time of year this is set. Finals time in Europe, I guess.**

**4) All of this is very vague because I live in Australia and we do a lot of things different. I hope I haven't confused the shit out of anyone (well, not a lot at least).**

**5) (Yes, this is the last one, I promise) This story is called a 'slow burn' for a reason. It's a slow build-up to romance. I hope it's not getting too frustrating – well, it's kind of meant to be frustrating, but I hope it's not getting to the point where you want to tear your hair out. It's just how I imagine both Enjolras and Eponine would act, because they're both stubborn as shit and not exactly 100% open to love (though Eponine is probably more willing than our man of marble). **

**Wow, that's a lot of talking. Sorry. Moving on! (Also, love-never-dies-90 is the best beta a writer could ask for.)**

* * *

The next few weeks passed by slowly for Eponine.

Each day seemed to drag on for much longer than it should've, and it was doing her head in. Gavroche was now back at school, so every day she would wake up and get her brother dressed and fed, before he took the train to school (she had gone through the route four times with him before allowing him to go by himself, but she still worried each morning that he'd get lost or miss his train or get into some kind of trouble).

Things were gradually getting more and more stressful, as Eponine's drama performance was in a few days, and finals were the week after that. She was at the end of her major, and only a few months away from the beginning of her major

She was thankful, but slightly disgruntled, when Enjolras pulled her out of her script-revising reverie on Wednesday night, three days before the performance, and demanded that she come with him to the café.

"You know that thing back to front." He insisted.

"Enjolras, if I fuck up-"

"You're not going to. Come on, you've been stressing out all week. Have some fun."

After barely a moment's hesitation, Eponine agreed. "But only because it's gotten to the point where Aidan 'High-Strung' Enjolras is telling me to relax."

The man in question rolled his eyes and grabbed her coat off the hook on the kitchen wall, only to throw it at her so it hit her right in the face.

"I am _not _high-strung."

Eponine laughed as she pulled the offending article of clothing off her head.

"Keep telling yourself that, pretty boy."

* * *

Grantaire, Courfeyrac and Jehan were the only ones at the café when Enjolras and Eponine arrived. The pair took a seat with their friends and both accepted drinks immediately, eager to get a start on the night.

"How have you guys been?" Jehan asked with a smile, looking up from his laptop even though he was obviously working on something important.

"Good." Enjolras and Eponine answered together, before grinning at eachother in response to their synchronisation.

"Stressed?"

"Not really." Eponine answered alone this time, as Enjolras was too busy snorting. The girl turned to her friend and raised an eyebrow. He met her gaze before bursting out in laughter again.

"Ep, you have got to be kidding me. You've been crazy these past few days!"

"I have not!" Eponine cried.

"I had to drag you out tonight."

"You did not!"

"You almost sent Gavroche to school without pants on!"

"I did not!"

"And you're responding to all my claims with the same answer."

"I am not-" Eponine cut herself off as she realised what she was doing, much to Enjolras' enjoyment. "Screw you. You've been just as stressed as I have."

"At least I didn't send a 10 year old boy out the door half naked." The blonde muttered into his beer bottle before taking a swig, avoiding Eponine's eyes.

"_One time _that happened. He came back before he could get too far, anyway."

"Because the landlord dragged him back."

"That's as much Gavroche's fault for not realising that he wasn't fully clothed."

Enjolras just smirked. Eponine huffed and punched him lightly on the shoulder, before breaking out into a grin.

"I win." The man declared, an air of childishness about him that reminded Eponine of the persona he adopted when he was drunk. Her eyes locked on his face, and she was kind of struck by it for a moment.

She had never properly taken in his features before, for various reasons – like being too wrapped up in Marius, or being worried that he would catch her staring and be creeped out – but now she was truly appreciating the curve of his jaw, the lines on his forehead (the group teased him about them, claiming he was aging faster than the rest of them because he was so damn stressed all the time, but Eponine recognised them as the signs of a worrier, because she was a worrier too), how the right corner of his mouth would turn a few seconds before he smiled (as though his smile was being pulled by a string).

Eponine caught herself before she stared at the man too long, but from the look Grantaire was giving her, she hadn't been particularly casual about it. She tried to avoid his gaze, expecting him to start loudly teasing her, but when she finally couldn't take it and her eyes flickered over to look at him, he was staring intently at the table, brows furrowed.

This time, she actually tried to catch his eye, but he seemed intent on continuing his staring match with the table, so Eponine allowed herself to be drawn back into conversation, this time with Jehan, Courfeyrac and Enjolras, instead of just with the latter (which was good, because back-and-forth banter between her and Enjolras was just plain dangerous and would very likely end in her doing something stupid like inching closer to him or even brushing back one of his curls – well, there was one dangling right in front of his eye, just _asking _to be pushed back, but no, she would not give in to temptation).

"I've already bought us all tickets." Jehan was saying excitedly.

"Tickets for what?" Eponine asked, eyeing the worried look on Enjolras face with curiosity.

"For your performance." Courfeyrac smirked.

Eponine did a double take. "Wait – _what?_"

"Did you really think we wouldn't come?"

"Think? No. Pray with all my heart? Yes."

"Oh, come on, Ep, it won't be that bad."

"Yes it will!" The brunette insisted. "With you all you idiots in the audience, I'll lose my mind! I'll forget lines and blocking and probably bump into everyone and completely fuck it all up. Please don't come! I'm bad enough as it is without you guys distracting me."

"Eponine, the theatre is huge. I've seen it. You won't be able to see the front row, let alone us." Courfeyrac insisted.

"Actually, the tickets I got are in the front row. I booked early." Jehan smiled.

The brunette fought back a curse.

_It's Jehan. He's the sweetest guy you know. Do _not _hurl your drink at him, no matter how much you want to._

"Jehan, while I understand your excitement, maybe you should have consulted me and Eponine before purchasing tickets." Enjolras said.

Eponine shook her head wearily. "No, it's fine. I'll deal." She directed the next part to Enjolras. "But don't blame me if I fuck up one of our big scenes."

"I won't." Enjolras replied with a chuckle. "You're not going to fuck up, though."

"Ha. Just you wait and see."

The man sobered immediately. "Seriously, Eponine. You're amazing. You're going to blow everyone away."

Eponine stared at him for almost a full minute. How was it possible that _he _had more faith in her than she did?

"Thanks, Enj." She said quietly with a small smile. Just as he opened his mouth again, Grantaire suddenly stood up and stormed out of the room. The others stared after him in shock.

Eponine got up and followed him after a moment.

"R, what's going on?" She asked when she finally caught up with him on the street outside the café. It was dark and cold, even though it was only 7pm, and Eponine could feel goose bumps appearing on her bare arms and legs.

Grantaire turned to face her, eyes wild and angry. "What do you think is going on?" He spat.

"I've got no clue! That's why I'm bloody asking!"

"Of course you've got no clue. That's the two of you, all right. Lost in oblivion, never aware of what's going on around them. So goddamn innocent and idiotic that they can't see past their own nose. God, you're both irritating.

"I seriously don't know what you're on about."

"You and Enjolras!" Grantaire yelled suddenly. "Being all fucking flirty and cosy together!"

"What? We're not-"

"I thought the guys were insane when they asked you if you were going out, but they were right."

"We don't feel that way about eachother." Eponine tried again.

"Bullshit."

"Okay – _he _doesn't feel that way about _me_, but I... I don't know, I think I might have feelings for him." The girl admitted after a moment, feeling a weight lift off her chest as she uttered the words. "It doesn't matter, though, because he's not interested in that kind of thing."

"Could you even see yourselves in there? Actually, not just in there – this entire time! You think you have feelings for him, but you don't realise that it's more than that! You don't realise that-" Grantaire stopped abruptly, as if he had suddenly remembered something.

"What?" Eponine asked. "What were you going to say?"

Grantaire continued after a moment of silence. "You don't realise that you're affecting people around you."

_Oh, fuck. I've been such an idiot._

"I'm sorry, 'Taire, I completely spaced. I forgot about the messy shit with you and Enjolras, but... but I thought you were in a better place. Isn't that what you said? That you thought you would be okay with someone dating Enjolras? Not that I'm dating him, or planning on dating him – he doesn't even think of me that way – but I thought you were feeling a bit better about this."

"I thought I was too. I guess I was wrong. But by all means, don't let _me _and _my _feelings ruin your night." With this, Grantaire stormed off yet again. This time Eponine didn't follow him.

* * *

As soon as Grantaire was around the corner and onto another street, where Eponine couldn't see him, he sank to the ground and put his head in his hands. His back was pressed against a cold brick wall, and the rough stone jabbed into him, not that he really noticed, or cared.

He had so thought he was over Enjolras. Seeing him didn't hurt Grantaire as much as it used to. The pain had subsided – the pain of knowing that Enjolras would never feel that way about him – but when he had seen those two together, it had been replaced with white hot rage.

Grantaire had never been so angry with Eponine. She was a good friend – a good person, too – and if anybody deserved Enjolras... well, who deserved Enjolras, really? He was stand-offish, and perpetually stressed, and a bit of pain in the ass at times... but then there were those times when he spoke about what he truly believed in, and Grantaire could see – _everyone _could see – the person that was hidden beneath the marble man.

Grantaire had given up hope a long time ago, because it seemed that Enjolras would never crack for anyone. But it seemed that for Eponine, he had. Grantaire would've been happy for the man (finally expressing his emotions and what-not) if it wasn't so damn irritating that he had to open up for Eponine and not _him_.

_You'd be bad for him, and you know it. _A voice in his mind accused. _Just because you're sobered up, doesn't mean you're a saint. All your pessimism would get him down. He needs someone who makes him happy. What if that's Eponine?_

Grantaire thought back to his conversation with Eponine.

_You think you have feelings for him, but you don't realise that it's more than that! You don't realise that-_

Involuntarily, he sucked in a sharp breath. He had almost told Eponine what she obviously hadn't figured out herself. That it was deeper than she thought. That Enjolras obviously felt the same way too.

If Grantaire had been an incredible person, and friend (the way Eponine was), he would've let her have the happiness that would come with finally knowing her feelings were not one-way (he had watched her trip and stumble over her feelings for Marius, and that had been heartbreaking).

But he wasn't an incredible person. At least, not right that moment. At that moment, he was still fucking angry.

* * *

**A/N: Hope you guys didn't mind the Grantaire POV! I just needed it to finish off the chapter the way I wanted to.**


	26. Chapter 26

**A/N: Okay, this is short, but I updated on time, so yay! Also, I realise that in the last chapter Enjolras acted a bit OOC... I feel like that's how he acts in those rare moments when he's not stressed, and you have to have those moments if you actually want his relationship with Eponine to... y'know... progress.**

* * *

Eponine stared at her reflection and wondered how she had become this person.

The girl in the mirror bore no resemblance to her usual self. The bags under her eyes were covered, her skin was clear and smooth, and her usually wildly knotted hair had been tied into a neat bun. The makeup artist, a volunteer student who was majoring in cosmetology, had done wonders, as had Fantine and a few of the advanced drama students, who had made the costumes.

It was opening night of their performance, and Eponine was starting to feel the pressure. She had arrived a few hours earlier (it was now 6pm and the show was due to start at 7:30) and immediately had her makeup and hair done, before being warned that if she messed it up, she would face Fantine's wrath.

Eponine was wearing the first of her four dresses for the performance. It was quite plain, a light brownish kind of color, and went down to her ankles. Still, it was nicer than a lot of the clothes she herself owned, and in very good condition as well, so she found herself spinning around in it several times just to watch the skirt flow around her and then come to rest back against her body. It helped take her mind off the immense amount of stress she was feeling.

How the hell was she going to pull this off? She barely had a hold on her own mind, let alone her character's, and she hadn't been able to sleep the night before because she'd been too busy worrying, and the lack of sleep was taking its toll. Her mind was foggy, and yet too active to let her rest, even for a moment. She'd tried multiple times to take a nap, but had eventually given up. It would mess up her hair, anyway, and then she'd have a whole other problem (Fantine would probably scream at her).

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door.

"Come in!" Eponine called out, checking her makeup in the mirror for about the millionth time. The door creaked open, and when she turned, she found Enjolras looking back at her. He was dressed in a traditional suit, and his hair had been slicked back for the occasion. Eponine chuckled at the sight of it. "Hey." She greeted.

"Hi. You look... different." Enjolras said, making an obvious effort to not stare at her.

"Bad different or good different?"

"Neither. Just different."

"Well, you're_ acting_ different, so I guess we're even."

"Sorry. It's the pre-show nerves." Enjolras explained. He looked around the room for a moment. "How are you feeling?"

The girl took in a deep breath. "Not great." She answered honestly. "You?"

"Jittery. Very excitable. I think this is what it's like to be Courfeyrac."

Eponine threw her head back and laughed, but the laughter soon subsided into crying. Enjolras' eyes were wide with alarm.

"Uh, Ep-"

"I'm fine, I'm fine." Eponine insisted, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. "Just very tired."

"Get some sleep." Enjolras said softly. "We have an hour."

"Okay, I'm not tired enough to sleep in my dressing room." The girl back pedaled. Enjolras gave her a look, but she just smiled at him and turned back to the mirror to stare at herself some more (being in a room full of mirrors really brought out the vanity in her), so he slumped into the chair next to her and sighed.

"This is slightly terrifying for me." Enjolras admitted.

"You've really never been unconfident, have you?"

"Of course I have." The blonde answered defensively. "I'm just good at hiding it."

"Right. Well, not all of us have that luxury. I'm glad you're walking on the wild side and actually showing your emotions for once."

"I show my emotions a lot more than you think."

"I think _I_ would know." Eponine said without thinking. She froze a few seconds after the words left her lips. "I mean... Because we're such good friends. That's why I would know."

"Of course."

Suddenly the silence in the room was deafening. Eponine stood up and started pacing.

"That's not going to help your pre-show nerves." Enjolras pointed out, leaning back in his chair. Eponine stopped pacing and looked at him.

"Well, what do _you_ suggest?"

"A nap."

"Tried that before."

"Have you eaten?"

"I feel like I'm about to throw up, so, no."

"Have you tried... I don't know, meditation?"

Eponine stared at her friend incredulously. "Like yoga and shit?"

"Well... yes."

"Uh uh. No way. I can barely keep my mind on one topic for more than a minute. There's no way I could clear my brain of all thought or whatever it is you do in yoga."

Enjolras laughed and stood up, walking over to Eponine and grabbing her hands before pulling her gently to the floor with him. He crossed his legs, and after a moment, Eponine did too.

"Jehan taught me some stuff. It's just about breathing."

"Ah, breathing. One of the few things I excel at."

Enjolras was not amused. "Come on, take this seriously. Okay, so close your eyes. Try to focus on the sound of my voice and your own inhale and exhale. Just breathe, and with every breath, let your body relax a bit more. Keep breathing - in and out, in and out. If you're having trouble, try to think of something that makes you happy, but apart from that, just think about your breath."

Eponine tried her hardest to do as he said, but it was actually pretty difficult (and it didn't help that Enjolras still had her hands in his). Slowly, though, she could feel the tension seeping out of her aching bones. Warmth spread through her body (though that may have had more to do with the whole holding-hands-with-a-guy-she-liked thing).

Her head lost its heaviness, and her shoulders relaxed, and-

And then Enjolras pressed his lips against hers. Eponine felt a squeak of surprise escape her lips only to be muffled by his. Enjolras pulled back just as she opened her eyes.

"I'm sorry." He blurted out.

Eponine just looked at him. "Um."

"I don't know what happened there."

"Okay."

"I was just-"

"Please stop talking." Eponine interrupted. She squeezed her eyes shut for a moment. Enjolras took his hands away from hers.

"Are you mad at me?" Obviously, Enjolras couldn't stay quiet for long.

"No." Eponine answered honestly, opening her eyes again and watching the man in front of her carefully. There was a faint smudge of lipstick on his mouth. "I'm confused, scared, and the effects of the yoga have competely worn off, so I'm just as hyper as I was before, but I'm not mad."

"I... I don't know what to say."

"Maybe you should apologize for destroying my sense of peace and quiet." Eponine joked.

"I'm sorry, Eponine, I shouldn't have been so forward. I just got caught up in the moment."

Eponine's head snapped up. "Is that really all it was? Because this isn't the first time you've gotten 'caught up in the moment', and you know what? I really, _really_ don't want to be kissed by someone who doesn't have feelings for me."

"That's the thing... I... I think I-"

The door opened and Fantine popped her head in.

"There you are, Enjolras!" The woman exclaimed, apparently unaware that she had just interrupted a tense moment. "We need you to try on the suit for scene 9 and make sure it fits."

Enjolras stood up, and after staring at Eponine for a moment, he left the room. Fantine was about to go, when suddenly she started staring very hard at Eponine.

"Might want to check in with makeup - your lipstick is smudged." Fantine told her. Then she left.

Eponine fell back and stared up at the ceiling. God, this was a mess. She had only just gotten into an argument with Grantaire where she'd argued that Enjolras definitely did not have feelings for her, and then the blonde had gone and kissed her! Of course, it didn't mean he was in love with her or any bullshit like that, but it was still extremely confusing, and the way it had happened was even stranger to think about. She had just been sitting there, minding her own business, and he had leaned over and kissed her! What was he trying to prove? And what was he going to say before Fantine cut him off?

The girl's head was a mess, and she knew that thinking about Enjolras too much was just going to make it worse, so she focused on her breath, just as she'd done earlier (before Enjolras kissed her, which resulted in loss of breath for the duration of the kiss and quite a while afterwards as well).

Eponine very calmly got up, exited her room, and went to find the makeup person.

_I bet Elizabeth Bennett never had this much trouble_.

* * *

A few doors down, Enjolras was thinking about the same thing.

He had been given one of his suits - they all looked the same to him, honestly - to try on, and now he was in his dressing room, doing just that. Of course, he wasn't just doing that. He was also internally freaking out about having kissed Eponine, and externally finding it hard not to scream.

He really hadn't planned on kissing her. In fact, he was just trying to be a good friend when he had suggested meditation. Surprisingly, it had worked for him when Jehan taught him a few months ago (after a particularly stressful essay deadline had Enjolras so on edge that at one point he'd yelled at a coffee table), so he thought that it might help Eponine and her obvious nerves. He hadn't expected to feel such a strong urge to kiss her when he'd opened his eyes to make sure she was doing it properly.

She had just looked so calm and peaceful - the way she'd looked when he'd woken up with her in his arms that one morning - and the obscene amount of makeup she was wearing was hiding what she normally looked like (which was probably the point, but it still irritated him for some reason), so he'd leaned forward to kiss away the lipstick (a perfectly innocent gesture, really) and ended up with blood pumping through his veins and the trace of her perfume on him, even though he hadn't pressed any of his other body parts to her.

Enjolras had no idea what had come over him. The last time they kissed, he knew what he was feeling - anger, heat, intensity - but this time hasn't been like that. He'd been filled with warmth (a soft, nice kind of warmth) that he was unfamiliar with, and even now, he felt lightheaded, though the kiss had been more of a brush of the lips than an actual kiss. He had never felt this disoriented in his life, and though he couldn't say he enjoyed the feeling, he had definitely enjoyed the cause of it.

He looked at the clock on the wall. There was a little more than an hour to go. He looked at the suit he was wearing and then exited his room to show wardrobe, trying not to let his mind fall into the familiar pattern of pondering Eponine and her thoughts and actions for hours on end. He was very sure it wasn't healthy to let just one person take up so much of his mind.

/\\\

An hour later, Enjolras and Eponine stood together backstage. Enjolras could hear the mutters of the audience (the university's theatre seated about 500, and the performance was sold out), and knowing that all his friends (except Grantaire, though Enjolras didn't know if the other man considered him a friend at the moment, because he seemed to be avoiding him) were out there - they had eventually found out about the performance and insisted on coming - only made his stomach clench tighter. He was back in his opening costume, and though he wouldn't be onstage until the third scene, he was waiting with Eponine, who was currently staring off into space and biting her lip. Enjolras tried his hardest to ignore the awkwardness between them.

"Still scared?" He asked.

"Yep. Fantine said that's good, that every performer needs butterflies to do a good job or something."

"Right."

Eponine was tapping her foot. "I... Good luck. Or break a leg, or whatever."

"Thanks. You too, though I never really understood that expression."

The girl turned to him. "Why?"

"How can wishing someone bad luck give them good luck? It's completely illogical."

"It's theatre. Everything's illogical."

Enjolras smiled at her, and was about to reply when Fantine came over (the woman seemed to have a knack for interrupting them just as things were getting interesting) and told Eponine to take her place onstage. The audience hushed, and so did everyone backstage.

"Break a leg." Enjolras mouthed, and then rolled his eyes emphatically to show his disdain for the term. Eponine laughed quietly, before smacking a hand over her mouth and rushing onto stage. She quickly got into her position, and just as Fantine stage whispered that she was about to raise the curtain, Eponine locked eyes with Enjolras.

"You're going to be amazing." Enjolras was still mouthing, but he'd always been bad at it, so he doubted she could understand it.

However, Eponine mouthed back, showing that she'd been able to understand him. "So are you."

And the curtain came up.


	27. Chapter 27

**Disclaimer: I don't own Les Miserables or Pride and Prejudice. **

**A/N: OH MY GOD I AM AN IDIOT.**

**Elizabeth ****_Bennet _****has ONE T. I'm taking all my Pride and Prejudice stuff from the book, and I swear it spells it 'Bennett' in my copy of the book. However... Yeesh, that was a large mistake. Apologies!**

**Also, I feel my chapters are getting progressively worse, and it's very possible you are going to get bored with the first half of this chapter, but I figured if I built up all these damn rehearsals and didn't show you a bit of the show, it'd be a waste.**

**I really, really, really don't like this chapter, and I'm already feeling shit about it, so if you're going to complain... just not this chapter, please?**

**(And as always, I'm eternally thankful for my amazing beta, love-never-dies-90.)**

* * *

The spotlight shone down on Eponine, hot and bright, as she tried not to stumble over her words.

The first scene had begun. The introductory scene involved Mr Bennet introducing the audience to his daughters, in a kind of 'breaking-the-fourth-wall' way.

"Though Captain Talley of the regiment expressed her to be the most critical young lady in Hertfordshire." The girl who was playing Lydia said.

"In the only complete sentence I ever heard him construct." Eponine butted in, trying to focus on the scene rather than the crowd of people staring at her from the audience.

"La." 'Lydia' replied, before poking her tongue at Elizabeth, prompting the audience to chuckle.

The introductory scene continued, and eventually finished when 'Mrs Bennet' entered the scene and brought the characters into the story.

"My dear Mr Bennet, have you heard that Netherfield Park is let at last?"

Eponine took a deep breath and forced herself to become Elizabeth Bennet.

* * *

Enjolras appeared on stage quicker than Eponine remembered Mr Darcy entering – the time seemed to be flying, strangely enough.

"Might I have the honour of your hand for the next, Miss Bennet?" Enjolras asked, face stony, as Mr Darcy was meant to be rude in this scene (for most of the first act, actually).

Eponine turned to the audience and addressed them. "Mr Darcy is all politeness but I must deny myself the pleasure."

And then she walked away.

* * *

"I fear I cannot boast of knowing more than a half dozen in the whole range of my acquaintance that are really accomplished."

Eponine looked up from her book to stare at Enjolras. "Then you must comprehend a great deal in your idea of an accomplished woman."

"She must have a thorough knowledge of music, singing, drawing, dancing, languages and a certain something in her air and manner, the tone of her voice, her address and expressions or the word will be but half deserved." 'Miss Bingley' cut in.

"And to all this she must yet add something more substantial in the improvement of her mind by extensive reading."

"I am no longer surprised at your knowing only six accomplished women. I rather wonder now at your knowing any."

Eponine and Enjolras locked eyes, letting the tension grow and grow until –

"I say, sister, would you perhaps take to the pianoforte and favour us with a lively Scotch air?"

* * *

A costume change later, Eponine and Enjolras were doing the scene they had worked so hard to get right. It had been deemed performable by Fantine at the last minute, but now Eponine was worried that she might fuck it up.

"The music is well played do you not think?" She began.

And then they danced, speaking with their movement (and of course, their words). At the end of the scene, the audience seemed to be holding their breath as the tension built once more, but this time, it overflowed into their argument. Eponine shared a smile with Enjolras when the scene ended, and even through the darkness of the blackout, she could see him.

* * *

As Eponine pretended to play the piano, Enjolras came up behind her.

"You mean to frighten me, Mr Darcy, but my courage always rises with every attempt to intimidate me."

"You could not really believe me to entertain any design of alarming you. I have had the pleasure of your acquaintance long enough to know that you find great enjoyment in occasionally professing opinions which in fact are not your own."

Eponine stopped her playing, and laughed.

* * *

"In vain have I struggled. It will not do. My feelings will not be repressed. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you." Enjolras stared at Eponine as she looked at her feet. "I see I dismay you. I am slow, even dilatory. I should have declared myself at an earlier date. But there were, of course, the family obstacles which judgement always opposed to inclination. The general sense of your social inferiority, of it being a degradation of the line. I could not forget my responsibility to an estate, a way of life, a pride of place which might given your circumstances disinclude you and thus the very ardency I described took place against my will and reason, or rather in opposition to my character and inclination, but the very strength of my attachment has made it impossible for me to conquer my feelings and I can only express the hope that these feelings will now be rewarded by your acceptance of my hand. There."

Eponine tried not to think about how much those words applied to her situation (constantly struggling with her feelings for him), and continued the scene.

* * *

"Oh! Where, where is my aunt? I must find her this moment on business that cannot be delayed." Eponine rushed across the stage, running into Enjolras.

"Good God, what is the matter?" He asked, concern twisting his features.

"I have not an instant to lose."

"I will send you a servant, you cannot go yourself. A glass of wine; shall I get you one?"

"No... I... no..."

"You are very ill."

"No, I thank you. Only dreadful news. My younger sister has left all her friends, has eloped, under the power of... of Mr Wickham. You know him too well to doubt the rest... she is lost forever."

* * *

"If, however, your feelings have changed..."

Eponine leaned in and cut off Enjolras with a kiss.

It was a stage kiss – they had rehearsed it a few times, and it had always been slightly awkward – so why did it feel so similar to their first kiss? Why did his touch calm her so suddenly one moment, and completely unsettle her the next?

The kiss ended, eventually, and so did the scene. Eponine could feel the blush on her face as she got into her position for the final scene.

* * *

Eponine clutched Enjolras' hand as they bowed, and didn't let go until they had to go to their separate dressing rooms.

* * *

"That was incredible!" Jehan gushed, wrapping his arms around her before she even had time to properly process who he was. She had barely wiped off her makeup when there had been a knock on her dressing room door. It had been Enjolras, telling her that the boys were getting impatient. So they had made their way out together, only to find the entire group waiting outside the theatre (everyone but Grantaire, which Eponine was saddened, but not surprised, by).

"Fuck, guys, why are we just finding out about your hidden acting skills?" Courfeyrac said, grinning.

Eponine just shrugged. Though she was tired, and coming down from the rush of being onstage, she couldn't wipe the smile off her face. That performance had been one of the most exhilarating things she'd ever experienced. She understood what people saw when they watched her and Enjolras, the chemistry, the perfect harmony – because she had felt it. She had felt the connection between them.

It had given her hope.

"I'm guessing you did a lot of method acting to prepare for this role, huh?" Combeferre commented, the corner of his mouth curled up.

"Huh?" Eponine raised an eyebrow.

"The tension, the arguing... can't have been that hard to get into character." The man continued.

Enjolras coughed. "Right, well. Why don't we all go out for a drink?"

Suddenly Marius rushed up to the group. Eponine hadn't even noticed that he wasn't there, though the fact that Cosette stood without someone beside her should've been a giveaway.

"Sorry, I was in the bathroom – wow, Ep, you were incredible!" Marius beamed (apparently there was a lot of that going around) and flung his arms around Eponine, hugging her tightly.

The brunette felt her face flush – more from Marius' body heat than the actual hug – and she was about to thank him when she noticed the look on Enjolras face. He was frowning deeply at her and Marius' embrace.

"Get a room, guys." Courfeyrac muttered.

And then Enjolras abruptly stormed off.

_Why can't people just express their emotions rather than running away in a hissy fit? _Eponine thought to herself as she slid out of her friend's arms and ran after Enjolras.

The blonde was outside, head in hands in the middle of the footpath as the stream of people thinned to barely anybody leaving the theatre.

"Enjolras, what's the matter?"

"Leave me alone." There was a harsh bite to his tone, and when he turned to face her, his eyes were red.

"Not until you tell me what's up. You were fine until a minute ago."

"I can't watch this. I can't stick around and listen to the person I have feelings for-"

Eponine sucked in a breath. "You have feelings for me?"

"I - I don't... I don't know. I haven't felt this way about anybody before. I'm still trying to wrap my head around it. But... this is why I don't get involved with people romantically. Somebody always ends up getting hurt." Enjolras was slurring his words a bit.

Eponine felt several completely different emotions fighting to control her mind. On one hand, Enjolras was being really confusing, and he had somehow gotten mad at her within the space of the last few minutes. On the other hand, _he liked her._

She felt completely childish letting herself internally squeal at that thought, but god, he felt the same fucking way! He wanted to be with her – well, maybe. But on some level... he wanted her.

He. Wanted. Her.

"But I feel-" Eponine began, trying to tell him that she felt the same damn way and they didn't need to hide their feelings from each other anymore.

"You don't need to tell me how you feel about Marius. I'm already very well informed." And there was that slur again. Had he been drinking?

"_Marius_?" Eponine asked incredulously.

"Eponine, everybody knows. Don't fuck around with me."

_Fuck around with him? What the hell does he mean?_

"Enjolras, you don't get it."

"I think I do! The one time I let myself feel this way about someone, I get fucking crushed in the process. I'm not a martyr like you. I'm not going to wait for you to realise how oblivious Marius is. I thought you had realised that it wasn't real by now, but I guess I was wrong." Enjolras turned away from her.

Eponine felt anger overtaking the happiness that had been filling up her heart.

"What the fuck are you trying to say?"

"We talked about this, Eponine. It's not real. Your feelings for him aren't real. You are in love with the idea of him, but apparently, you won't let yourself believe that."

"I know!"

"You don't! If you did, you would be able to see that for the first time in my life, I want to be with somebody!"

The girl finally found her voice. "What are you doing? You kissed me a few hours ago and now you're screaming at me! Like me or hate me, Enjolras, we have to get up on that stage again tomorrow night, and the next night, so can you fucking get over yourself?"

"I'm not going to risk the performance because of this. I would never do that to the people who have worked so hard to get it right. But I swear to god, I can't handle another day of listening to you go on about Marius."

The man started to walk away.

"Fucking hell, are you serious right now? I just want to talk to you without us exploding at each other! Why does it always end this way? You're so damn fucked up that you can't even have one conversation about your feelings without shutting down and turning back into a goddamn robot."

Enjolras turned again, this time to face her. There was hurt in his eyes, but it was soon gone, and his mask was back.

"Remind me not to ever tell you how I feel again, Eponine. If it's always going to end with you calling me an emotionless robot, I'd rather avoid the situation."

And then he continued walking away.

"Listen to me, Enjolras. I am not – Enjolras! Enjolras!"

The man's footsteps echoed in Eponine's ears for a full minute, even after he was gone.

* * *

**A/N: OKAY GUYS BEFORE YOU FLAME AT ME THAT ENJOLRAS IS ACTING OOC:**

**I will explain everything next chapter. I know he's acting really weird and not like he usually does, but I promise, it will be much less confusing next chapter.**

**TBH, I really don't like this chapter, and I may go back at some point and re-write some bits, but I'm so fucking tired right now and I just wanted to get this chapter up.**


	28. Chapter 28

**A/N: Let me be real with you guys. I feel like these chapters are getting harder and harder to write, and worse and worse to read (if that makes sense). I would never abandon a story, obviously, but I'm just warning you that this was not the direction I intended this story to go. Anyway, thank you all for your continuing support. We actually have about six chapters after this one, and then an epilogue... and then we're done. Slightly terrifying, right? Yeah. I know.**

**Anyway, I know that you guys are probably getting really fed up with these guys and their continuous drama. I ask that you don't come after me with pitchforks and knives at the end of the chapter.**

***Hides behind a desk* Enjoy the chapter (if you can).**

**Oh, and as per usual, my beta is the freaking best (love-never-dies-90). Seriously, you wish you had a beta like her.**

* * *

As soon as Enjolras got to his car, he started regretting his earlier words. He'd had a few drinks before the show (and a couple after) to calm his nerves – which really wasn't like him, though that seemed to be his state of mind that night – but he'd never expected that it would prompt him to get so mad at Eponine (mad enough to reveal what he'd be battling with for the past few days).

Her face when Marius had hugged her had just set off something in him that he hadn't been able to control. Enjolras was now realising that he'd made a huge mistake. For once, it had been _him _overreacting and jumping to conclusions, even though he'd always claimed to hate it when his friends did so.

Even worse, he now had to suffer through another performance with her, after saying all those things.

What could he do to fix this? Could it even be fixed? He loved his friendship with Eponine, even though it hurt to be around her a bit more now. He didn't want to throw it away – though last night, he had felt as though it was relationship or nothing, not that he even _knew _how to be in a relationship – but he couldn't stand the thought of being around her, talking, laughing, drinking, with her knowing how he felt.

Enjolras had barely come to grips with it himself. He'd hoped that she could help him, that they could do it together, and after their kiss in the dressing room... god, he'd really thought she felt the same way. But it didn't matter now. He had fucked it all up.

Upon arriving home, he decided he didn't want to think about it anymore. The apartment was cold and empty, so he made his way to his room and got into bed, trying to block out the whole world.

* * *

The next day, he wasn't having much luck trying to block out the world.

He was currently in his dressing room, having arrived ten minutes earlier and gone straight there to hide from the world (well, from Eponine). Enjolras knew that he would have to talk to her at some point, but he had yet to run into her – according to Courfeyrac she had stayed the night at Marius and Cosette's, and even though the girls were friends and it was a perfectly reasonable thing to do, he felt a twinge of annoyance at the thought of Eponine staying at Marius' house.

It wasn't jealousy, per se, although there was a bit of that mixed in. It was an awful feeling that made his stomach turn, cause by the knowledge that Marius would never see Eponine as anything more than a friend, and though the man meant well, Eponine would end up hurt. Enjolras couldn't stand the thought of it.

On top of it all, this was all completely new to him.

He'd never felt this way about anyone, and to have it be Eponine who he fell for? It had caught him completely by surprise.

A knock on the door pulled him away from his thoughts. Before he could respond, the door opened and Fantine entered.

"Have you seen Eponine?" She asked, looking distressed.

"No, not since last night." Enjolras responded, in what he hoped was a neutral tone.

"Well, she was supposed to be here half an hour ago, and if she doesn't show up, we're going to have to get someone else to do her part – we don't even have properly trained understudies!"

Fantine left the room in a flurry of dark hair and muttering, slamming the door behind her.

Enjolras hesitated for a moment before picking up his phone, which had been resting on the table, and dialling Eponine's number. It rang twice before –

"Enjolras, hi!" Her voice sent a shiver down his spine.

"Where are you?" The man said immediately.

"I'm on my way, I was with Gav and I lost track of time."

"Well, you better get here soon. Fantine is freaking out."

"Right – I'll be there soon, I promise. But, uh... is that all you wanted to say?"

Enjolras sucked in a breath. "What else do you want me to say?"

"An apology would be nice." Eponine's voice grew hard and Enjolras gulped.

"For what?" He asked tentatively, although he already knew the answer.

"For completely overreacting? For telling me you had _feelings _for me and then just walking away? For not even listening to my side of the story?"

"Right. I am very sorry for that. Particularly the second part."

"You mean about your feelings for me?"

Enjolras' throat tightened.

_I can't do this. I can't let her know the truth when she can never feel the same way about me. I have to tell her that I didn't mean it. We can't go back to being friends if she knows how I feel about her. It'll be a mess._

"It was a momentary lapse in judgement. I was high off the rush of performing, and I'd had a bit to drink... I see now that I was just confused." The words tumbled out of Enjolras' mouth before he could take in a breath.

"You... you what?"

Enjolras started pacing as more lies came out of his mouth.

"I apologise for any embarrassment I may have caused you last night. It won't happen again."

"But – but you sounded..."

"I know how I sounded. But it's ridiculous, anyway. You could never feel that way about me, nor could I feel that way about you."

"Enjolras, you said that you-"

"I'm sorry for all the trouble, Eponine. I now know that what I thought I felt was nothing. I was caught up in the moment. Do you forgive me?"

"Of course." Eponine sounded distant. Enjolras briefly wondered why. "I'll be there soon."

"I'll let Fantine know."

Then there was a click, signalling that Eponine had hung up.

Enjolras put the phone down and slumped down in his chair.

* * *

Their last performance came and went. Eponine had given an amazing performance, yet Enjolras couldn't shake the feeling that there was something wrong. He assumed she was feeling weird about the previous night's events – or maybe she was just feeling weird around him, he pondered, when she declined going out for a celebratory drink and decided to head home.

* * *

Eponine, having been on autopilot for the past few hours, didn't let herself break down until she got into Courfeyrac's car (he had offered to drive her home, presumably noticing she was in no state to drive). Tears started streaming down her face for the first time since Enjolras had held her in his arms when she'd revealed her awful past, and the memory of how safe and warm she'd felt in his embrace only made the fact that he'd so coldly dismissed her even more painful.

"Eponine, what..." Courfeyrac began, getting into the car, before trailing off as he realised she was crying. Instantly, he pulled her into his arms.

* * *

"So... do you want to talk about it?"

Eponine looked up as Courfeyrac made his way over to sit next to her on the couch, holding out a cup of tea, which she gladly took. After an embarrassing amount of crying in the car, he had driven her home and led her to the couch. Though most of her was numb, she could still feel the dread creeping in at the thought of explaining what had happened.

"Okay. But please don't tell anyone."

"You know I wouldn't." Courfeyrac responded softly, reaching out a hand to rub her shoulder.

Eponine took in a deep breath and had a sip of her tea before she began. "Enjolras and I... We were never really close before. We were friends, but we weren't close. And then... I don't know, one day we just kind of... started being really good friends. You know, we had drama together, and I moved into your apartment, and he really helped me out with all my family drama, and I – well, I did something stupid, as always, and I fell for him."

Courfeyrac raised an eyebrow, but said nothing, so Eponine continued.

"He helped me realise that I didn't need Marius, that I'm better than I thought I was. I didn't want to let myself hope that he felt the same way, because I did that with Marius and it was awful. But then last night, after the performance, you know how he stormed out? It was because he thought I still had feelings for Marius. Then he told me that he-" Eponine choked back tears, "-that he had feelings for me, but he walked away before I could tell him I felt the same way. I wanted to tell him today, after he apologised, but then he said that – that he had been _drunk _and confused and that he hadn't meant to say it and I had to go onstage and I don't know how I'm supposed to keep going like this. Seeing him today nearly killed me. I can't keep – I can't..."

More tears came, but this time, Eponine felt numb, more than anything else. Finally getting the story out was reminding her of how much she was losing. It wasn't just being with someone she had feelings for... it was their friendship, too.

"Oh god, Ep, I'm so sorry... and after all that shit with Marius..."

"This is more than that." Eponine interrupted, wiping her eyes with the hand that wasn't holding her cup of tea. "Marius was an obsession. I was infatuated with him, or with the idea of him, at least. But Enjolras – fuck, I think it was real. It was the first real thing in my whole damn life and I blew it."

"Eponine, this isn't your fault."

"Isn't it? If I had just told him how I felt..."

"Stop." Courfeyrac said firmly. "That's not how it works. We are all terrified of rejection, and after your whole thing with Marius, it's completely understandable. Plus, none of us ever thought Enjolras would feel that way about someone. Of course you didn't want to admit your feelings to him."

Eponine took another sip of her tea.

"What are you going to do? You live with him. I can't be your buffer all the time. You're going to have to face him at some point."

"I know." Eponine put down her cup and turned to properly face Courfeyrac. "Was it me?"

Courfeyrac's face screwed up. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, I've had a hard life and I know I'm not particularly delicate or ladylike or whatever, but... I'm not completely disgusting, am I?"

"Eponine." Courfeyrac grabbed her shoulders. "Stop it. Don't do this. I saw you do it to yourself with Marius. Don't do it here, okay? It's not your fault – Enjolras is the one with the issues. You are beautiful and courageous and funny as hell, and I hate to be cliché, but if Enjolras can't see that... fuck him."

Eponine stared at her friend, whose words were reminding her of what Enjolras had said the night they first kissed.

_"Do you even _see_ yourself, Eponine? You are intelligent, and funny, and witty, and strong, and fucking _beautiful_. You have been through so much and yet you never go to pieces. You're resilient all the time, even though you don't need to be. You're caring and loyal and sexy and an amazing friend!"_

_"We must be looking at different people!"_

_"Obviously we _are_!"_

The memory hit Eponine like a ton of bricks, and she could feel the pain of losing Enjolras washing over her again, so she leant forward and pulled Courfeyrac to her, before crashing their lips together. The man jumped in surprise but Eponine could feel the memory coming back with more force, so she wrapped her arms around his neck and tried not to pretend he was somebody else.

When she opened her eyes and saw black curls instead of blonde, she didn't let herself be disappointed. She simply stood up and walked out, leaving her friend and her tea behind, knowing that she had probably just made another damn mistake.

* * *

**A/N: I promised some Ep/Courf, didn't I?**


	29. Chapter 29

**A/N: OH MY GOD I AM ****_SO FUCKING SORRY._**

**_WORDS CANNOT EXPLAIN HOW SORRY I AM._**

**_URGH. I'M THE WORST. SORRY._**

**I moved house recently, and I was told that the internet would be back on within three days. That was a LIE and I am uber pissed. HOWEVER, I have officially finished this story, so all I have to do now is pray the internet doesn't fucking turn off again and keep posting the chapters!**

**I am legitimately so sorry, though. I've been dying without the internet (that's my excuse for how shitty this chapter is oops).**

* * *

When Eponine entered the kitchen the next morning, she was almost expecting a bomb to go off. Her track record with the 'just-run-away-and-hope-the-problem-solves-itself' routine was pretty shit (yet for some reason she kept falling back on it whenever she was faced with a difficult situation), and this time, she was prepared for the worst.

However, Courfeyrac was sitting at the kitchen table in his pajamas, looking tired and scruffy with his hair sticking up, sipping a mug of coffee and staring blankly at the wall. If Eponine had walked in on Enjolras like that, she would've been worried, but it was Courfeyrac, and this was how he always was in the mornings.

"Hey, Ep." Courfeyrac said, finally noticing her. "How'd you sleep?"

Eponine shrugged instead of answering – she'd barely slept at all for fear that she'd ruined another one of her friendships by kissing Courfeyrac – and sat down at the table.

The man's voice came again. "Coffee's still hot. It's that nice Italian stuff that Enj- uh... it's good."

_It's that nice Italian stuff that Enjolras is obsessed with._

_It's that nice Italian stuff that Enjolras always texts you about: 'Ep, I got that really good coffee from the café around the corner! They were almost sold out but I got there just in time.' or 'It should be against the law for coffee to taste this good.'_

_It's that nice Italian stuff that Enjolras always smells of when you're sitting right next to him and he leans over to show you something, barely an inch away from you, as if he doesn't realise what being around him does to you._

Eponine gulped. "I'm alright." There was a pause, and then before she knew what she was doing, Eponine opened her mouth to speak again. "Courf, about last night-"

"It's cool." The man interrupted, giving her a small smile. "You don't need to explain yourself to me. I get it. Besides, we both know you never could resist the Courfinator."

Eponine automatically reached over and hit her friend.

"Jesus, you're feisty in the mornings. I should start getting up earlier."

"Right, you do that."

The intense comfort the brunette always felt around Courfeyrac enveloped her, and she relaxed into her chair a bit more.

"Listen, I know I'm no Combeferre, but if you want to talk some more about what happened, I'm here."

Eponine smiled weakly. "I think I'm okay. Thank you for last night, though, and thanks for not... well, making a big deal out of the kiss. I mean, when Enjolras and I kissed it was always so fucking dramatic. I constantly obsessed over what it meant and why it made me feel a certain way, and it was just kind of exhausting, y'know?"

Courfeyrac nodded. "I get what you mean. Passion is exciting, but it gets tiring after a while."

"Yeah. So... is Enjolras in?" Eponine tried to keep the hopeful tone out of her voice. Even though he had hurt her like hell and didn't even realise it, she still longed to see him walk into the kitchen, blinking slowly and stretching. Eponine was pretty sure that she was the only one in the group to ever see him just after he'd woken (and even she had only caught a glimpse a few times).

Courfeyrac bit his lip "He stayed out for a while last night. I think he was trying to avoid – well..."

"Avoid me." Eponine finished.

"Avoid a confrontation. Anyway, I didn't hear him come home last night, so he might have just come home really late, or not at all."

"I hope it's the latter." The girl lied.

Enjolras rarely 'stayed out for a while', especially when he had uni on the next day, so he really must've wanted to avoid her. Even though she knew it was for the best, she couldn't help feeling a bit hurt at the notion that he may have stayed out till all hours drinking or whatever, which was completely unlike him, just so he didn't have to deal with her.

_So what if I want to see him? What's wrong with that?_

Eponine knew the answer to her own question: 'everything'. She had done this before (with Marius, of course) – the heartbreak, the unrequited love – and she knew what effect it could have on her. Eponine considered herself a strong person, but when it came to the people she loved, she was weak. That was why she used to always say yes to Marius, no matter how ridiculous the favour he asked was.

Courfeyrac put his arm on her shoulder and squeezed.

"Are you sure you don't want to talk about it?"

Eponine shook her head. "I'm tired of talking about it. My head is going to explode if I even think about it again. I just have to keep busy."

"Ep... he fucking hurt you, okay? I understand how you must feel. You don't have to pretend around me."

"Courf, if I just keep moving and don't let myself dwell on it-" Eponine began to argue.

"It will still catch up with you." Her friend interrupted with the sternest look she'd ever seen him wear. "You don't need to talk to me about it, but talk to someone. Write it down. Do something. Don't let it fester."

Eponine was shocked at the words coming out of Courfeyrac's mouth. "Jesus, when did you become so wise?" She asked.

Courfeyrac smirked. "I don't know, I just woke up this way one morning."

"Right. Well. It's not a good color on you."

"Like hell it isn't."

Eponine laughed, and was about to reply when she heard a cough from behind her. When she turned, she saw Enjolras standing awkwardly in the entrance to the kitchen. He looked worse than Courfeyrac normally did, eyes red and screwed up as if the light was blinding him, face oddly vacant and pale.

"Morning." He said simply, voice low and thick with sleep.

"You look like shit." Eponine replied, turning away from him.

"I was up late... celebrating."

"That's not like you."

"Well, I was excited. People loved the performance."

Eponine didn't reply.

"Eponine..." Enjolras started to say.

"I really should get going." Eponine stood up. "I need to spend some time with Gav today. I left him alone in the house two nights in a row, and I've barely seen him the past couple of weeks because of exams."

"Did you still need help with the guardianship case?" The blonde suddenly asked.

"Um, I think I'm okay. Neither of my parents can afford a good lawyer, and even if they could, we've got proof of assault and abuse, which should be enough to get at least one of them locked up. I just need to convince them that I can provide a stable home for Gav."

"I didn't know you weren't his guardian yet." Courfeyrac frowned. "Are they gonna check out the apartment? Do we need to do anything before they come?"

Eponine looked at her feet. "Actually... I might start looking for a new place. I mean, I love you guys, but it's just... it's not a suitable place for a 10 year old to live. He needs a backyard and a bathroom that isn't shared with two grown men."

Then there was silence.

Eponine had been thinking about moving since the night before. Even if all the stuff she'd said wasn't true, she didn't think she could handle living with Enjolras after what had happened between them. It wasn't her main reason for wanting to leave, but it was a part of it. She had been through this exact predicament with Marius, and she was hell-bent on making sure she didn't become a lovesick fool again. Her life needed to be about taking care of Gavroche, work, university and nothing else.

It was a bit of a spur of the moment decision (to move) but Eponine was sure it was the right one. She and Gav both needed a nice change in order to get their lives back on track. The kid had been through so much for a 10 year old, and it was very possible that it could fuck him up if Eponine didn't handle the next few years well. She intended on getting him into a really good high school, as well as starting a university fund as soon as possible.

Gavroche was not going to have the same childhood as her. He was going to have new clothes, all free of stains and tears, and a loving sister who supported and cared for him. No more pickpocketing, no more hiding in the shadows from their father, no more living in fear (that last one was for both of them). A few years before then, it would have seemed like a faraway dream to get that kind of life, but Eponine was feeling more and more confident about the idea by the second.

_That's because of Enjolras, you idiot. _That familiar, irritating part of her brain was talking again. _He's made your life better, and now you're shutting him out?_

_I'm shutting him out because he doesn't feel the same way, and I can't let myself be heartbroken over another man who only thinks of me as a friend._

_But wasn't it kind of weird that he declared his feelings for you, and then blamed it on being drunk?  
It was a perfectly plausible explanation. There's no way he would ever have feelings for me._

_You're just telling yourself that because it's the easiest alternative. What if he really does love you, and he's just as scared as you are?_

_It doesn't matter. I'm moving on._

_Oh, of course you are._

_Yes, I'm moving on from him, and I'm moving on from this stupid thing I do where I have conversations with myself, because it's creepy and a symptom of insanity._

Eponine blinked a few times. The kitchen was still eerily quiet.

"Eponine... are you sure now is the best time to move?" Courfeyrac asked finally, frowning.

"I need to get my act together soon, so yeah, it's the best time."

"But you've been through so much..."

Eponine's head jerked up at that. "So has Gavroche. He needs a good home. I'll be fucked if I let him go back to my parents or be shoved into some home."

"Have you considered a foster family?" Enjolras asked.

"He already has a family, and that's me! Do you think I'm not qualified to take care of him?"

"No! I'm just saying that until you find a good place and a stable income, maybe foster care would be the best option for Gav." The man protested.

Eponine gave Enjolras a long, hard look. "If you believe that shoving my brother into a dozen different homes where he'll be poked and prodded by uptight rich families who think they know what's best for him is the best option, then fuck you."

Enjolras straightened up. "I'm sorry. I was just asking you to consider it, but it's none of my business. Let me know if you need any help with the court case, or with apartment hunting."

The tension in the air lessened considerably at that. Eponine nodded at Enjolras, shot Courfeyrac a small smile, and left the room.

She made her way down to the spare room, which had been transformed into Gavroche's bedroom. She knocked on the door a few times, and then entered without waiting for a response.

However, to her surprise, Gavroche was up and dressed, and was searching through his clothes for something.

"Ye gods, you're up." Eponine laughed.

"It's like 11, Ep."

"Oh. Shit. I didn't realise how late it was. Well, we're going out for breakfast, so put on your shoes."

"Just one sec, I've lost my phone. Can you call it?"

Eponine rolled her eyes and took out her phone. "Fine, but you need to be more responsible with it, okay? If you ever lose it or break it, I'm not buying you a new one. I'll buy you a 20 dollar Nokia."

She went into contacts and scrolled down to 'G'. Just as she was about to press 'Gav', she noticed another name at the bottom of the screen: 'Grantaire'.

An overwhelming sense of guilt washed over her as she realised that she still hadn't fixed things with the guy who was supposed to be her best friend. Putting it on her mental checklist for the day, Eponine pressed her brother's name and waited.

Immediately, she heard the familiar ring of his phone, and it was surprisingly close.

"Oh, it's in my jeans." Gavroche said, pulling out the thing and pressing something that stopped the ringing.

"Jesus, were you dropped on the head as a kid?" Eponine said in an exaggerated tone (she knew that he had been dropped on the head many times – a few too many, in fact).

"Yeah, by my stupid big sister."

"Ouch, that one hurt."

* * *

When Eponine left the kitchen, an eerie kind of silence overtook the room. Enjolras shuffled on the spot for a moment, before walking over to a chair and sitting down.

"Is there still coffee?" He asked, turning to Courfeyrac.

"Yep."

Pause.

"Really? It's normally all gone by 11."

Courfeyrac was stony faced. "Ep didn't want any."

"Oh."

Briefly, Enjolras thought about how strange it was that such a simple sentence could hurt him so much. She loved that coffee (that was what she'd told him, at least) – or maybe she'd just said she did because he'd talked about it so much. Maybe he'd been too pushy. Maybe that was why she was moving.

"I guess we'll have two spare rooms now." Courfeyrac said finally, a bit of sharpness in his tone.

Enjolras simply nodded, trying to figure out what he was supposed to do. Did he beg her to stay? Did he try to appear impassive, therefore making her want to stay?

_Why does she even want to go? _He thought to himself.

"I don't know." Courfeyrac spoke again.

Enjolras jumped, not realising he'd voiced his thoughts aloud.

"It must just be about Gavroche. I'm sure that's the only reason."

Though Courfeyrac's words should've sounded reassuring, the man said them in a way that seemed slightly sarcastic, as if he was mad at Enjolras.

The blonde gave his friend an odd look. "Is everything alright?" He asked.

Courfeyrac frowned. "Yep. Everything is just great."

"Seriously, Courf, what's going on?"

The frown deepened. "I should be asking you that."

And before Enjolras could say another word, Courfeyrac had stormed out of the kitchen.

* * *

**A/N: Worth the wait?**

**Probably not. But the story will continue on, regardless. Again, SO SORRY about the wait. You guys are the best for putting up with me, and so is my freaking incredible beta, love-never-dies-90.**


	30. Chapter 30

**A/N: I admit, this chapter is slightly filler, but there is some big news at the end, so don't skim! Also, I gave you some Grantaire because... reasons? I don't know, but I've missed writing him.**

* * *

As Eponine sat at a table with Gavroche in a small but friendly café, she couldn't help but dwell on the seemingly huge decision she had made earlier. Was it really for the best? Was she just doing it to get back at Enjolras for drunkenly leading her on and then rejecting her? If so, she needed to backpedal completely and halt the whole 'moving-out-and-being-independent-and-getting-my-l ife-together' thing. Well, no, she did need to be independent and get her life together, but she really didn't want to fuck up more of Gavroche's childhood just so she could get away from Enjolras.

The vibe with him was too hard to handle, though. The silence whenever she was in the same room as him was stifling, and she could sense the awkwardness wasn't going to just dissolve as time went by. It seemed that she would either have to sort everything out with him and come clean (about _everything_, including her feelings for him), or run away.

Maybe it was her instincts from the old days kicking in, but Eponine couldn't even think about the possibility of telling Enjolras how she felt without feeling a bit sick, so presumably that only left one more option...

Frankly, she had no clue where to go from there. Her mind was an absolute mess. Between work, Gavroche, and avoiding Enjolras, she hadn't had much time to herself in the past few weeks. She hadn't had much time to deal with the situation with Grantaire either, which she should've realised was a pressing matter. After all, he was _meant_ to be her best friend (a fact she seemed to be forgetting lately).

Anyway, it needed to be dealt with.

At that moment, Gavroche was polishing off his breakfast, and washing it down with a hot chocolate.

_Man, that boy can eat._

The food in the café looked and smelled incredible, but lately Eponine hadn't had much of an appetite, so she settled with nibbling on a bagel and taking small sips of tea. She knew it was stupid to turn up her nose at a meal, especially since good food used to be so hard to come by, but lately her body had been completely out of whack. She chalked it up to all the drama she'd been put through recently.

"Are you ready to go, Ep?"

Eponine blinked quickly to wake herself up from her daydream, and nodded at Gavroche's question before taking a twenty and a ten out of her wallet and leaving it on the table.

"Hey Gav, I kinda have something important to do. Why don't you go home and get started on your homework? We'll do something later."

Gavroche grimaced at the mention of homework, but eventually sighed and nodded, giving Eponine a hug and sprinting out the door. The girl tried not to feel too awful about letting her 10-year-old brother walk around town by himself so much, but the apartment was just around the corner, and he really was pretty mature and responsible for his age.

As soon as she saw him disappear around the corner, Eponine made her way over to the nearest bus stop, and sat down, awaiting the vehicle that would take her to Grantaire's.

* * *

The journey took a little longer than she'd hoped, but eventually, Eponine made it to the apartment block that Grantaire lived in. She nervously walked up to the door and tried the handle, which was locked. She cursed, and then remembered the high-tech intercom system this building had. She then pressed the intercom button, which promptly buzzed. Eponine waited for about twenty seconds, and then pressed the button again. This time, the buzzing was soon followed by the sound of Grantaire's voice.

"Alright, alright – can't a man sleep in till 1pm on a Sunday without being interrupted? Jesus... okay, who's there?"

Eponine paused before answering. "It's Eponine."

There was silence on the line for a moment, and then Grantaire spoke again.

"Come up."

Eponine let out a breath she hadn't known she'd been holding. She had half expected him to tell her to fuck off. The door beeped, and when Eponine tried the handle again, the door opened. She made her way up a few flights of stairs (she could've taken the elevator but this took a bit longer and gave her more time to settle her nerves) until she was at Grantaire's floor.

The brunette walked up to his door and again, hesitated for at least a minute before knocking. It took about two seconds for the man to come to the door and open it. He looked like he always did on Sundays – tired and hung-over – but something in his face was a bit more solemn. He stepped aside and motioned for Eponine to enter, and she obliged.

It felt weird being so formal with the only man who had ever succeeded in convincing her to play beer pong.

They both awkwardly hovered in the hallway, until Grantaire briskly started walking down the hall, and into the kitchen. Eponine followed.

"So... I assume this is not just a friendly visit." Grantaire said gruffly as he poured two cups of coffee.

"Actually... it is."

Grantaire looked up at her strangely, and then slid over a mug.

"Our fight was stupid." Eponine said simply as she inspected the coffee.

Grantaire neither agreed nor disagreed, just stood there staring at her with a slight frown on his face.

"I mean... I know you're probably still mad at me. But I've come here to say... cut it out. You're my best friend. I know I fucked up. Just forgive me, please. I've had enough arguments to last a lifetime, and things are really shitty at the moment, and I just kind of... I need us to go back to being friends. Please."

Eponine hadn't exactly known what she was going to say – in fact, she'd freaked out about it silently on the bus ride there - but now that she'd said it, she felt oddly calm. (Even though she'd kind of pathetically grovelled and demanded he forgive her simultaneously.)

After a long sip of coffee, Grantaire raised his eyebrows instead of furrowing them, and crossed his arms. "Well. Can't say no to that."

Eponine opened her mouth to answer, and then closed it. She hadn't expected such a simple answer. "Wait – are you serious?" She asked finally.

"I was the one being a shit here. I actually sent around a bunch of flowers to apologise, so expect those when you get home. I was totally going to crash the apartment later and tell you I wasn't leaving until you forgave me, but this makes things a whole lot easier. I can properly grovel."

"Um... I'm the one who grovelled."

Grantaire chuckled. "Yep. That was just a bonus."

"So... you're not mad anymore?"

"Shouldn't have been in the first place. I'm sorry. I was a complete dickhead. You can fuck whoever you want."

Eponine sighed. "I'm not fucking Enjolras. Far from it."

"You crazy kids just can't get your fucking shit together, can you? Come on... tell me what happened."

This was how it always was with Grantaire. On the rare occasions that she'd had a blowout fight with her friend, it would end up the same way every time. They'd avoid eachother for a day (or a week or whatever), the person who had fucked up the most would eventually apologise, and then they'd immediately go back to normal.

It was so much simpler than the way things were with Enjolras – although, admittedly, not as exciting.

"Well, he basically told me that he had feelings for me, which was kind of great, because I have feelings for him too..." Eponine stopped for a moment, taking in Grantaire's reaction to this news. He seemed more amused than anything else, so she continued. "But then the next morning he said he'd been drunk and that he didn't mean it."

Grantaire was back to frowning. "So he knows you have feelings for him?"

"No, I didn't get to tell him, and by the next morning, he had already kind of shot that horse in the face."

Grantaire ran a hand through his hair and gulped down a fair amount of his coffee. "Ah."

"Yep."

"Well, that sucks."

"That it does, my friend. That it does. Also, I fucked things over even more by kissing Courfeyrac."

Grantaire coughed, sending little bits of coffee flying through the air.

"Yeah, I know. But he was really cool about it. It wasn't anywhere near as dramatic as when I kissed Enjolras."

"You kissed Enjolras?!" Grantaire exclaimed incredulously.

"Well, yeah. Twice."

Grantaire stared at Eponine for a long time. "How was it?"

"Fucking incredible." Eponine answered honestly. "But I... I don't want to think about it anymore, y'know? I'm so tired of dwelling on it. Everything we said and did keeps running through my brain, and it hurts more than it makes me smile, so I... I need to stop."

Grantaire's face lit up. "I think I have something that might help with that." He said with a smile on his face. He suddenly put his coffee down and ran out of the room, returning with what looked like a pamphlet in his hand. He handed it to Eponine, the smile on his face even wider.

It was black, and glossy, with a picture of a few attractive young people on a stage holding scripts on the front. The title read: 'Paris Theatre Company Internship'.

Despite herself, Eponine let out a small gasp, and then hesitantly opened up the pamphlet. Inside, there were more pictures of attractive people – sewing costumes, laughing together, a bit more script holding – and a whole lot of text. Eponine skimmed over a paragraph.

_Working alongside the very best performers in France is the perfect way to kick-start your own career in theatre. While the work involves the usual intern jobs (getting coffee, printing scripts, etc.) our theatre heads will be keeping their eye on you for displays of talent, which you might get to showcase standing in for people in rehearsals or singing in the chorus, and if we believe you have talented, a job offer is not out of the question._

Eponine stopped and looked up at Grantaire.

"Well?" Grantaire looked expectant.

"You... want me to apply for this?"

"No, I want you to wear the pamphlet as a bikini."

Eponine glared at him momentarily, and then looked at the pamphlet again, scanning the 'rip-off-and-send-to-us' section that required her information.

"Grantaire – this is... this is a really nice idea. But I don't think I'm good enough." The brunette admitted.

"Bull-fucking-_shit _you're not good enough. Not only do you love acting, you're fucking incredible at it. I saw you and Enjolras doing your Pride and Prejudice thing-"

"What?" Eponine cut him off. "When did you come? I never saw you."

"I was at the back. I snuck out just as it ended."

"Why did you hide it from me?"

Grantaire shook his head. "Conversation for a different time. Look, I know you're unhappy with your job. I know you love theatre. Yes, I know you need the money from your job. But think about it. It'll be moving boxes and getting coffee at first, but it says right there that if they believe you have the talent, they're willing to offer interns a job."

"And that's the part that concerns me. What if I quit my job, apply for the internship, get in, and then after a few months of doing shitty work without pay they tell me that they don't think I'm good enough and send me on my fucking way?"

Grantaire grimaced slightly, and then shook it off. "That's not going to happen. Theatre companies know talent when they see it. They'll probably offer you a job within a week." At the look Eponine gave him, Grantaire spoke again. "Okay, not a week. But eventually, you'll get the chance to prove how good you are, and then they'll never let you go."

Eponine took in a deep breath and put away the pamphlet. "Fine." She conceded. "I'll think about it."

Grantaire grinned, and picked his coffee back up.

* * *

Some time later, Eponine and Grantaire were half way through a Game of Thrones episode. Just as Eponine was about to yell at Prince fucking Joffrey, she heard a buzz and a loud beep go off at the same time. The beep was her getting a text (her phone was in her bag, but it was still really damn loud), and when Grantaire pulled out his phone, she realised that must've been what the buzz was.

Eponine picked up her bag and was about to fish for her phone when –

"Oh my god."

The girl looked up at her friend, who was staring at his phone in shock.

"What?" Eponine asked, slightly worried about what the text could be about.

"It was a – a mass text. I think that's what you just got."

"And what's so amazing about a mass text?"

Grantaire frowned. "I'm sorry, Ep."

"Oh, god – what is it?"

Images of Gavroche or Enjolras or Courfeyrac or Marius or Cosette in car wrecks and other awful scenarios came swimming into Eponine's mind. Eponine went back to her bag to check the text as it seemed Grantaire wasn't going to say anything, but she was stopped by Grantaire's hand on her arm. When she looked up, he was showing her the text on his phone. She peered slightly, unable to read it at first. But then her vision sharpened. It was from Marius, and it appeared he had sent it to everyone in the group.

_Huge news guys! COSETTE AND I ARE ENGAGED! I asked her ten minutes ago and she said yes!_

Eponine's stomach dropped and her mouth dried. A single thought was running through her mind.

_Fucking hell._

* * *

**A/N: Ah, those crazy kids and their swearing. The story's rated M for a reason! (And that reason is unfortunately not sex because I can't for the life of me write smut. Heh. Sorry.)**


	31. Chapter 31

**A/N: Not another filler chapter! Stuff is going to happen. THINGS. ****_What? _****I hear you gasp. ****_Plot development in this story? WHAT IS THIS?_**** Yes, I know I write a lot of short/filler/boring chapters. But there's also angst. And humour. And eventually, happiness? Maybe? Knowing Eponine and Enjolras... that might be a bit of a stretch.**

**That's what fanfic's all about, though, right?**

* * *

Eponine couldn't stop reading the message over and over again.

_Huge news guys! COSETTE AND I ARE ENGAGED! I asked her ten minutes ago and she said yes!_

The sheer amount of exclamation points alone was enough to agitate her. It didn't help that the message was also a bit of an issue. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Grantaire staring at her warily, as if she was going to explode any second, so she closed her eyes, put down the phone and inhaled deeply.

"They're getting a move on, aren't they?" She eventually squeaked, unsure of what else to say.

"Yeah." Grantaire chuckled nervously.

Eponine stood up and started pacing. "I shouldn't be – I shouldn't be so damn affected by this. I thought I was over him. I don't feel that way about him anymore. I thought I was – oh, fucking hell. Enjolras was right."

The girl thought back to the night they had argued, and what he had said.

_"You don't need to tell me how you feel about Marius. I'm already very well informed."_

At the time, she had thought he was being ridiculous. In fact, a part of her had felt a bit insulted that he thought she didn't know that her feelings for him were completely misguided. But maybe he had been right. Maybe she just wasn't ready for another relationship. Why else would she have reacted so badly to this?

Suddenly, she realised that Grantaire had stood up, and he had his hands on her shoulders to halt her pacing.

"Ep, Enjolras is right about a lot of things. But he has no clue when it comes to you and Marius. I get that this hurts. And I get that it's fucking with you, because you thought you were over him. That's how I felt when I realised you and Enjolras had something going on. I freaked the fuck out, because I thought I had gotten over him. I was feeling so good about myself and then I saw you two and it was like my feelings for him came rushing back. But it was just jealousy. I saw something that I used to want being taken away, and I started wanting it again. It's fucking psych 101."

"Why am I so messed up about this, though? I should be happy for him. And Cosette! Cosette's been nothing but nice and understanding to me!"

"That doesn't _matter_!" Grantaire shouted. "I know you're mostly over him, but you can't just expect your feelings to disappear without leaving behind a bit of emotion. A few months ago, this would've completely crushed you. This is pretty tame compared to that. It's left over feelings, because you think Enjolras doesn't have feelings for you and you're feeling rejected, and you want to go back to having feelings that were a whole lot simpler. But your feelings are just fucking with you. Allow yourself to react to it properly, and then get over it."

Eponine stared at her friend for a moment. "Holy shit. I think you just diagnosed me with seven different complexes. You should be a therapist or something."

"Right. Cause I'm so good at dealing with random people and their irrational emotions."

"You're good at dealing with mine."

"Cause I've gotten used to you."

Eponine's phone made another noise, as did Grantaire's. Another mass text, presumably.

"You read it. Cosette's probably pregnant with perfect blonde twins or some bullshit like that." Eponine grumbled, sitting back down on the couch and grabbing a cushion to take her anger out on.

"It'd explain their hurry to get married." He picked up his phone, which was lying on the counter where Eponine had left it. "Marius wants us all to meet for drinks at the bar to celebrate."

Eponine cursed and then screamed into the pillow she was holding. When she looked up, Grantaire was looking at her with an amused expression.

"Fine. Let's go." Eponine stood up, grabbing Grantaire's leather jacket and slipping it on. He rolled his eyes at her blatant stealing.

A thought struck Eponine as she and Grantaire exited the apartment. "Hey, you said before that I _think_ Enjolras doesn't have feelings for me. What do you mean 'think'? He told me."

"Backburner. We'll talk about it later." Grantaire said, not looking her in the eye.

The brunette raised an eyebrow, but kept silent.

* * *

When the pair arrived at the bar, ten minutes later than Marius had asked them to, they could only see Jehan and Combeferre.

"Figures Marius would be late to his own engagement party." Eponine muttered.

"That's next week, actually." A voice came from behind them.

Eponine and Grantaire turned around. Enjolras stood there, looking devastatingly gorgeous in the first suit she had ever seen him wear (because 'Eponine, suits are for rich men who don't care about the poorly paid workers that slaved over their clothes'). He wasn't wearing a tie, and the first few buttons of his shirt were undone, presumably because of the heat in the bar. Eponine gulped slightly, despite herself, and tried not to rake her eyes up and down his body.

Grantaire, however, made no such effort. "If this isn't the engagement party, then why are you so dressed up?"

"I came from a job interview." Enjolras said after a moment's hesitation.

"You hate suits." Eponine found herself saying.

"It was at a law firm. Suits are kind of required there."

Eponine raised her eyebrows. "A law firm?"

"My dad set up the interview. I could hardly say no."

"Right. Because you and your dad are so tight."

Grantaire coughed, reminding Eponine of his presence.

"I'm gonna go talk to... someone else." The man said, hastily walking backwards and nearly bumping into some people.

"What gives, Enjolras? Law isn't your passion. Far from it."

"And Starbucks isn't yours. It's just a job." Enjolras said, frowning.

"Don't you need a degree to be a lawyer, at the very least?"

"I never said I was going to be a lawyer. It's a receptionist job that will hopefully lead to more when I change my major and get my degree." The man said, looking off into the distance."

"I can't believe it. You're changing your major?" Eponine cried incredulously. "Jesus, what's happening to you?"

"I'm growing up, Eponine. Signing petitions and going to protests doesn't pay the rent."

Eponine took a moment to compose herself before she responded. "You're the most grown-up person I know. Don't say that's what this is. Are you just doing this because of what happened the other night?"

"No, Eponine. Unlike you, I don't flip my entire world because I'm have personal issues. In fact, I'm surprised you're even here right now. Shouldn't you be off brooding and drinking?" There was so much rage in Enjolras eyes that it was almost impossible to keep looking right at him.

"This is difficult, but I'm trying to be happy for them." Eponine said honestly.

"See? I knew all that talk of you being over Marius was bullshit. You'll never get over him because you're so self deluded that you think if he ever falls in love with you, all your problems will magically go away."

"That's not what I think at all! I solve my own damn problems, Enjolras. I've been doing it all my life. You're the first person I've ever really accepted help from, because I do things on my own. I don't wait around for someone to come along and save me because _I know nobody's coming_. This isn't difficult because I still have feelings for Marius. It's difficult because I'm going to be watching them get married in a year, and I'll still be poor and tired and alone. But at least I won't have sold out just to get a bit more cash in my pocket."

And with that, Eponine turned away and walked off. She spotted Courfeyrac at a table with drinks and made her way over there. When she sat down, he slid her a drink with a knowing look on his face. She downed it in two sips, barely tasting anything, and then slammed the glass down a bit harder than necessary.

"Night's not off to a great start, huh?" Courfeyrac said.

Eponine grimaced. "How'd you guess?"

"Grantaire told me. Plus, I saw the tension between you and Enj. And it wasn't the fun kind of tension that you guys normally have."

"Far from it."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Eponine shook her head firmly. "No talking. No brooding. It's drinking time."

"I think that was my yearbook quote." Courfeyrac said thoughtfully.

* * *

Several drinks lately, Eponine and Courfeyrac were in tears. Marius and Cosette had just visited their table, sporting colorful matching t-shirts that said "Just Engaged" in comic sans. Marius told them he had made them in case she said yes.

"Do you think they're meant to be ironic?" Eponine asked between giggles when the couple had left.

"Either way, that was the best thing I've seen all night. I hope they wear them every day until the wedding."

Eponine laughed, and then suddenly something struck her. "Oh my fucking god. Gavroche." She hadn't even thought about him in the last few hours. Some damn sister she was.

"It's all good. He's at a friend's house. I organized it and tried to call you, but my phone ran out of charge. I should've told you before. I was just kind of... distracted. Sorry."

Eponine stared at him in astonishment. "No, that's... that's really great of you, Courf. Seriously."

Courfeyrac seemed to be blushing - but it was probably just the alcohol and the warmth of the bar and the -

"I'm gonna call us a taxi."

"It's not even that late!"

"But this party is lame and I'm only halfway drunk enough to deal with it." Courfeyrac pointed out.

"Okay." Eponine sighed. "Let's go."

* * *

The taxi ride was surprisingly quiet, considering they were both drunk and just loud and funny people in general. When they entered the apartment, Eponine couldn't help but feel there was something missing. She wanted to hear Enjolras entering behind them, rolling his eyes at their drunken antics, making sure everyone drank some water to avoid major hangovers in the morning, giving Eponine a look before she went to bed that would keep her up for hours.

"Well, I've got some studying to do before bed, so..." Courfeyrac's voice brought Eponine back to reality.

"Right. Studying drunk. That'll end well."

Courfeyrac laughed, and maybe it was the alcohol in her system, or how kind he had been to her in those past few days, or her sudden need to stop thinking about Enjolras, but Eponine found herself moving towards him and wrapping her arms around his neck and pressing her lips against his.

So, she found herself kissing Courfeyrac for the second time in a week. Only this time, neither one of them pulled back.

* * *

The next morning, Eponine opened her eyes, head pounding, memory foggy, feeling slightly strange. She was in her room, lying in her bed, but something was off. She blinked a few times, and then slowly sat up. Her body was aching, and yet she felt kind of good about herself. A million questions were running through her mind, but when she looked over to her right, they all disappeared, because Courfeyrac was lying next to her, asleep and _naked. _And when she looked down, she realised that she was naked too.

_Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god. _Eponine screamed in her head, pulling the covers up to hide her bare chest. _What the fuck happened last night?_

The girl took a few deep breaths, not daring to move another inch in case he woke up, and concentrated on the night before. Fixing things with Grantaire, Marius and Cosette's engagement (she grimaced at the thought of how she had reacted), going to the bar to celebrate, seeing and arguing with Enjolras (another grimace), getting slightly drunk with Courfeyrac, taking a taxi back to the apartment and...

_"Well, I've got some studying to do before bed, so..."_

_"Right. Studying drunk. That'll end well."_

Eponine suddenly had a clear image of what she had been thinking at that moment - just wanting to forget about Enjolras and feeling so grateful to have Courfeyrac as a friend and then leaning over and -

"Oh, fuck." Eponine swore aloud, forgetting that the man was still next to her. She froze for a minute, but when he barely stirred, she relaxed a little. _Thank god he's a deep sleeper._

More images flashed into Eponine's mind: the kiss growing deeper, hands running through her hair, Courfeyrac's shirt coming off, _her _shirt coming off, stumbling across the apartment but ever breaking apart, going into Eponine's room, more clothes coming off, falling onto the bed together -

The brunette squeezed her eyes shut as she remembered the way he'd touched her and kissed her, and suddenly, she just had to get out. She pulled off the covers as quietly as she could, almost sprinted over to her desk, grabbed the dressing gown hanging on her chair, pulled it on and hastily left her room, shutting the door behind her.

As she made her way to the kitchen, wondering what she would say to Courfeyrac when he woke up (maybe she could leave the house before he woke - or was that too spineless of her?), her mind was so caught up in what had happened that she didn't hear the noises in the kitchen until she actually entered the room and saw Enjolras standing there with a pot of coffee in one hand and a mug in the other, staring at her.

"Um, morning." Eponine mumbled.

He kept staring. Was he actually staring at her? She turned around to see if it was something behind her, and saw Courfeyrac standing there, awake and looking confused, but pretty much the exact way he had been before.

Which meant he was naked. Stark naked.

* * *

**A/N: Fanfiction writer 'abigailbelleofkilronan' kindly requests that you don't set out to murder her. **


	32. Chapter 32

**A/N: Okay, you're going to hate me for not giving you a follow-up straight away, but I wanted to start the chapter with some Enj POV thinking about the past week (or so), because we haven't really heard his point of view and I thought it might be interesting, so. Let's give this a shot!**

* * *

Standing in the bar, watching Eponine walk off, Enjolras was, for once, completely willing to admit that he'd royally screwed up.

He was right about most things, but he had no damn clue when it came to Eponine, and he should've realised that before he went and lied about his feelings for her. Because even though it would've been stilted and awkward at first if she really believed he had feelings for her, she would probably still be his friend. She wouldn't leave the room as soon as he entered it. She wouldn't frown when she caught him staring at her. She wouldn't look so pained whenever he tried to engage her in conversation.

While he couldn't actually figure out what he'd done, Enjolras was sure he'd fucked up somehow (why else would Eponine actively avoid him for this long?). The past few days had been spent analysing the night when he completely screwed up everything. What had it been that finally got her? Was it the comments about her feelings for Marius? Was it the reveal of romantic feelings? Was it the cold way he dismissed those feelings as a drunken mistake? Was it all of the above?

Of course, he was perfectly aware of the mistakes he had made in their conversation two minutes ago, but he was not nearly drunk enough to tackle _that _big mess, so he decided to shrink into the corner alone and spend way too much time brooding over every little thing he had done to make Eponine hate him so much.

Enjolras didn't even want to be at the damn bar. Yes, Marius was his friend, and he was happy that the man was engaged, but it felt like a bit of an inadvertent slap to the face that Marius was advancing so eagerly in his romantic life and Enjolras was stumbling and falling flat on his face. Also, it was very difficult to watch Eponine get increasingly drunker (and consequently, flirtier) with Courfeyrac.

Yet another inadvertent slap in this face.

Somehow, the fact that she'd called him a sell-out (which he was, really) for wearing a suit and attending a job interview seemed to be stinging a lot more than the fact that he would never get her now.

What was he supposed to do, anyway? Buy her flowers? Chocolates? No, that was the kind of thing that Marius would do, and Enjolras did _not_ want to go down that path. That path led to bad things, like happiness and moving in together and getting engaged. What sane person would want any part of such madness?

_You would. With Eponine._

Ignoring that voice in his head, Enjolras ordered a whisky (what a cliché he was – next he'd be drowning his sorrows with country music) and pondered what his next step would be.

He could change his major like he'd planned on doing upon waking that morning. He could pretend his feelings for Eponine were platonic and nothing else. He could move on with his life, let her move out, drift away from his friends, become a mindless corporate machine who lived and breathed the law and forced people to wade through the clusterfuck of unjust policies and biased judgements that was the judicial system. Yes, he could do that. It was the coward's way out, but Enjolras had never heard of a coward who put his heart on the line and got it broken time and time again.

Eponine's words flashed in his mind momentarily. _"I can't believe it. You're changing your major? Jesus, what's happening to you?"_

What _was _happening to him? When had he ever believed that taking the coward's way out was even an option? He was meant to be a fearless leader who stood up for what was right. His entire life, Enjolras had prided himself on being courageous and strong and brave. What a hypocrite he was, accusing Eponine of 'flipping her entire world' because of personal issues, when that was exactly what he was doing.

Enjolras soon realised that he had been sitting at his table in the corner for far longer than necessary, and it appeared that the rest of the group had slowly trickled out. Apparently nobody had been interested in conversing with him (he must've had that look on his face that Eponine had once told him about – she called it the 'I-swear-to-god-don't-come-near-me-if-you-treasure -your-life' look, and apparently it was his fall-back face when he was brooding).

Sitting alone in the bar, waiting for his damn whiskey to come (seriously, where was that waiter?), he resolved to apologise to Eponine. Tomorrow. When he wasn't so tired and desperate for alcohol.

* * *

When Enjolras woke, all he remembered was staggering into his room at about 4am and collapsing onto his bed. His head was pounding, which told him that the whiskey had eventually come, probably followed by a few more (_quite _a few more) drinks, but he remembered what he had made himself swear to do, and got out of bed. Last night he hadn't bothered to change his clothes, and he'd ended up sleeping in his suit and it was now covered with wrinkles (not that he gave two shits about the stupid outfit, especially now that it only brought back the sharp memory of his fight with Eponine). He got undressed and then threw on jeans and a shirt, feeling a hell of a lot better now that he was in casual clothing again.

He put on some shoes and left his room, looking around the apartment for a moment before heading to the kitchen. He noted that Courfeyrac's door was ajar, and the man didn't appear to be in his room. Enjolras briefly wondered where Courfeyrac could be.

The apartment was eerily quiet, and it put him on edge. He was used to the silence in the mornings, as he _usually _woke up five hours earlier than Courfeyrac and at least three hours earlier than Eponine, but this was different. The air felt thicker somehow, and Enjolras couldn't shake the feeling that something was off.

Trying not to dwell on it, he decided coffee was a good icebreaker and that it would at least force Eponine to be in the same room as him for more than a few seconds at a time, so he began brewing some, trying to ignore his raging hangover. Just as he was about to pour the coffee, he heard a noise behind him. When he turned, he saw Eponine in the doorway of the kitchen, apparently having stumbled over from her bedroom, wearing only a nightgown (which, by the way, was _not helping anything_, least of all his nervous state of mind). He was about to say something, when he spotted Courfeyrac walking up behind Eponine, wearing – nothing.

Seeing Courfeyrac in the lounge room, naked as the day he was born, really wasn't helping Enjolras' hangover. He had been all set to apologise to Eponine and tell her how much he missed her, but those plans had been put on hold the second he saw his roommate walk out of...

_Wait._

He had walked out of Eponine's bedroom. Naked. Eponine herself seemed to only be wearing the nightgown she now clutched around her body. And the looks on both of their faces sealed the deal.

_They had sex._

Enjolras inhaled sharply as the thought pounded in his brain, echoing and echoing, making him want to bang his head against the wall.

_You fucking idiot. This is what happens when you fall for someone. You're brave enough to stage rallies and talk of leading rebellions, but you can't even tell a girl how you feel about her, and then she ends up with another guy, who, let's face it, is probably way better for her than you, you psychopathic cowardly lion._

Pushing aside that strange insult he'd hurled at himself, Enjolras tried very hard to keep his breathing steady. But then the images came. Eponine and Courfeyrac kissing, slamming into walls, taking off clothes –

He squeezed his eyes shut and pinched the bridge of his nose.

_Are they together? Was this a one-time thing, or have they been doing it for ages and you just never knew about it? Has it always been Courfeyrac? Is _he _the one who she really wants? Have I just been kidding myself this entire time?_

Realising he had yet to say anything, Enjolras cleared his throat.

"Courfeyrac," he said, in a surprisingly even voice, keeping his eyes firmly closed, "where are your clothes?"

"Um." The man responded.

"Courf, maybe you should get dressed." Eponine's voice came out of the blue, soft and sweet. The tone she used with Courfeyrac made Enjolras want to die, and though he still had his eyes shut, he could only imagine the kind of look she was giving him.

_How could you have been so stupid?_

"Right. Yeah."

A few thumping noises, and then a door closing.

Enjolras opened his eyes, although he wasn't quite certain he was ready for it. Upon seeing Eponine's face, he realised that he _definitely _wasn't. Her eyebrows were knitted together and she was biting her lip (which was somehow upsetting and sexy at the same time, and he didn't even begin to understand how she managed to evoke two conflicting emotions in him with one action) and there was worry and embarrassment and _hurt_ in her eyes.

He wanted to just offer her coffee and do his apology anyway and pretend he hadn't seen it, because those eyes were cutting right into him. Eventually, though, he realised that he couldn't just let this pass, because he would keep thinking about it and obsessing over it and getting flashes of them doing it. He could almost ignore the jealousy, but he could not ignore the hurt that _he _had inside, filling him up while somehow making him feel empty. He set down the pot and the mug on the counter, turning his back to Eponine.

"I see you got busy last night."

Not the best opening line, but there were no profanities involved, so he gave himself an internal pat on the back.

"Not that it's any of your business, but yes."

"Good for you." Enjolras smiled, but he had a sneaking suspicion that it didn't reach his eyes. "Hope he was good."

He turned around to face her again, and saw that the hurt in her eyes had faded slightly and been replaced by annoyance.

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?"

"It's not supposed to mean anything."

"Bull_shit_." Eponine spitted. "Who are you to judge me?"

"I'm not judging you."

"You're a shitty liar."

"Oh, pardon me, I didn't realise Eponine Thenardier knew _anything _about lying." He said, sarcasm in his tone so heavy that it almost covered up the crack in his voice when he said her name.

"I may lie to others, but at least I don't lie to myself. And _don't _call me Thenardier."

Enjolras balked. "Your entire life is revolved around lying to yourself!"

"Don't tell me about my own life. You don't know anything about it."

"If anybody knows, it's me. I've heard enough about your problems to write a novel."

"Just because I've told you about my course load and the annoying people at work does not mean I tell you everything. The amount of shit you know about me is an insignificant needle in a haystack of crappy problems that I keep to myself." Eponine wasn't bothering to hold her nightgown in place and it was slipping slightly – not that he was _looking_, because he was angry at her and hurt and nothing in his mind was coming out of his mouth properly, but her skin looked_ so soft_.

"Excuse me for actually-"

"No, stop it. I'm sick of arguing with you." Eponine suddenly interrupted. "All we do is fight and yell and ignore each other and I'm sick of it."

For one blissful, beautiful moment, Enjolras really thought she was going to say everything he wanted to hear.

"I don't have to listen to this."

And then the moment crashed and burned.

"You don't get to be angry and judge me about what I do in my spare time."

"What you do in your _spare time_?" Enjolras spluttered. Had _their _kisses just been things she'd done in her spare time?

"Christ, it's not like we're going to get married!" Eponine cried.

"What, you were just feeling sorry for yourself because Marius is getting hitched, and you decided to bang the closest living thing?"

"Why does this all have to be such a big deal with you? Can't you just accept that sometimes stuff happens, and it doesn't mean anything?"

Enjolras froze. Eponine looked at him for a moment, and then seemed to realise what she'd implied.

"I didn't mean it was the same with our kiss." She said quickly.

"It's pretty clear what you meant." Enjolras replied. He pushed past her gently yet firmly, and didn't stop until he was out the door, down the stairs, and out of the apartment building.

* * *

God, Eponine had so much more that she wanted to say, and he had just fucking left. What right did he have to assume she didn't care about their kiss, and then get angry about it? _He _was the one who had no feelings for her. _He _was the one who never showed interest in relationships. _He _didn't get to storm out.

And okay, yes, she'd slept with Courfeyrac (which, from her vague memory, had been pretty awesome), but it was her life! Enjolras had no fucking claim over her. They weren't dating – they weren't even _close _to dating – so what right did he have to get his panties in a twist about it?

Just then, Courfeyrac came into the kitchen, this time fully clothed (thank _god_) and looking concerned.

"Are you alright?" He asked, coming up behind her, putting his arm around her waist and resting his head on her shoulder – jesus, she hoped he didn't think they were like, _dating _now, but he was known to be touchy feely with all his friends anyway, so Eponine wasn't really that concerned.

"I'm fine. Just sick of arguing."

"Do you want to vent?"

"Yeah, but you're busy today, aren't you?"

"Well, it's my brother's birthday, but-"

"Go." Eponine told him firmly. "I'll just call Cosette."

"Okay."

As the man left the room, presumably to change once more, Eponine picked up her phone, which had been lying on the kitchen table for some reason, and dialled Cosette's number.

"Hello?" The girl's voice was sleepy, and Eponine suddenly remembered the whole engagement thing and cursed under her breath.

"Um, hi. Sorry, did I wake you?"

"No, of course not."

Eponine rolled her eyes. She had totally woken Cosette, the girl was just too nice to say anything about it.

"Okay, I know yesterday was a big day for you, and I really don't want to bring you down with my problems, but if you're not busy..."

"I'll meet you at the café around the corner from your apartment in twenty minutes."

Eponine smiled, thinking about how lucky she was to have such awesome friends. "You're the fucking best."

"Okay, I will see you then!"

Eponine replied with a similar statement and hung up. Her smile quickly faded when she spotted the jug of coffee Enjolras had been holding earlier. She left the kitchen, and went into the bathroom, ready to spend way longer than normal getting ready to avoid thinking about everything that had happened.

* * *

**A/N: Jesus christ, these guys really can't stop arguing. It's a problem. Legit.**


	33. Chapter 33

A/N: I'm sorry this was a bit late! I took a while to send it to my beta and she's away at the moment (I think) but I wanted to get it up, so this hasn't been edited... it probably has a shit-ton of mistakes, so sorry!

Okay, this is the third last update and the second last chapter, because we have two more chapters and then an epilogue. So close to the end! Hopefully these motherfuckers will get their shit together...

* * *

"Are you nearly ready, Ep?"

Eponine jumped at the sound of Courfeyrac's voice. She had been staring in the mirror for the past five minutes, trying and failing to get a hold of herself and just calm the fuck down.

It had been about a week since she had seen Enjolras – she had no idea how he'd managed to avoid her so well when they lived in the same apartment, but in a strange way, she was kind of thankful for it. Seeing Enjolras would mean thinking about him and all those angry words they'd exchanged, and the fact that even though she had made herself promise to get her life together and forget about him and move on, she had yet to even start the search for another place.

Eponine kept telling herself she'd tackle all those big, scary life decisions after the engagement party, but it was here now, and the thought of coming home and actually having to deal with it was making her hyperventilate a little.

Should I move out of the city? Maybe the country – but then Gav's education would probably suffer, and I'd never see my friends, unless they could be bothered making their way out there. But he'd never have to see our parents again, and I'd never have to see... Never mind. And what am I going to do about paying the rent? Do I need to drop out of uni and just get a shitty office job? I can type pretty fast – maybe I'll get a receptionist job and work my way up from there... surely there are some jobs you can get without a degree or a uni credit. Or maybe I'd be eligible for unemployment benefits or student benefits or something to do with having guardianship of a child… if I even get guardianship of Gavroche...

With so many damn thoughts running through her head, she'd barely started on her makeup (not that it mattered anyway – who was she trying to impress?), so when Courf banged on the door, probably because she hadn't answered him, she jumped and immediately jumped into action.

"Hang on, hang on, I'm almost finished." She yelled out as she hastily applied eyeliner.

"We're going to be late!"

"Since when do you care about that shit?"

"One of us has to be responsible."

Eponine chuckled at that, put on a touch of lipstick, tousled her hair and eyed herself in the mirror. The dress she was wearing was from a thrift shop, but she thought it was still pretty nice. It was blue, with off the shoulder straps, and it fitted nicely around her waist and then flared out at the hips. It was the kind of dress that a few years ago, she would've looked ridiculous in, but since she'd filled out a bit more and basically had access to food regularly, she could barely see her rib bones anymore, and she finally felt healthy. Her skin had a bit of a glow to it, as well. It was a nice change from the sickly feel it used to have.

All in all, she actually felt kind of pretty for once. It was an odd sensation.

When she emerged from the bathroom, Courfeyrac stared for a good minute. He didn't look too bad himself – he was just wearing a suit, as per usual with all her male friends (did men even own any other type of thing to wear to a fancy event?), but he did clean up nice, and she was enjoying the view as much as he appeared to be.

"Christ." He said, voice cracking a bit. Eponine rolled her eyes, pulled a face, but secretly, she was slightly thrilled. If Courfeyrac was impressed, maybe Enjolras would be too...

Whoa. Where did that come from?

Eponine decided to ignore her brain's lapse in judgement, and enjoy herself. Even though it was a bit weird being excited about an engagement party, she really was looking forward to it. Cosette and Marius were lovesick idiots... but they were lovesick idiots who she loved, so she was prepared to support them all the way. She was even considering the idea that maybe she could be Maid of Honour. If Cosette asked her. Not that Eponine wanted to do it. But if Cosette asked, she would. But Cosette wouldn't ask, because she probably had a bunch of gorgeous, sophisticated friends from uni, and one of them would probably be Maid of Honour, so. Whatever.

"Are you ready, milady?" Courfeyrac said, holding out his arm. Eponine gave him a look, brushed past the arm he'd extended to her, and made her way over to the apartment door.

"As I'll ever be, doofus."

* * *

Enjolras breathed a sigh of relief as he heard the apartment door close. He'd been hiding out his room like the coward he was as Eponine and Courfeyrac took their sweet time getting ready, and thanks to them (well, okay, maybe it was kind of his fault for not having the guts to emerge from his room until they were out of the building), he was now going to be even later than them. He'd been ready for the past three hours, and he'd basically spent his time pacing, changing his clothes over and over (he'd eventually settled on a white shirt, a red vest, black pants and shoes, because he'd promised himself to never wear a suit again, and that promise had nothing to do with the way Eponine had looked at him when he'd told her why he was wearing it, nothing at all), and checking his phone.

Now that they were gone, though, he didn't want to leave. He wanted to call in sick, enjoy the quiet of the apartment, and not have to mill around all night talking to people he didn't know and avoiding the only person he really wanted to talk to.

That being said, what would he talk to her about? Though he desperately wanted to beg her to stay, he didn't think that would really send the right message. Of course, part of him didn't really care about how anything made him look at the moment. He just wanted Eponine back. He didn't even care if she only wanted to be friends. Friends would be enough for him.

But he had fucked things up so royally, she probably wasn't even up for that. He couldn't blame her. He was a pretty shitty friend.

In all honesty, it was because he'd never really had a female friend. The girlfriends he'd had in high school were never serious. He'd rarely went beyond kissing, until he'd gotten drunk at a party and woken up in the morning next to a beautiful, but kind of mean girl. He'd never planned to lose his virginity that way, but - well, what did it matter? Society put too much meaning into 'losing one's virginity', and Enjolras had never wanted to be one of those people who judged others on stupid things like how often they had sex, or who they had it with, or what they liked to do during said sex.

Suddenly, Enjolras stood up. He had completely zoned out, forgetting all about the engagement party. He left his room, ready to go, but as he made his way over to the window to check that Eponine and Courfeyrac had already hailed a taxi and left, that little, irritating part of his brain started pushing questions into the front of his mind, like: why did your thoughts of Eponine so quickly get you onto the subject of sex?

Taking a deep breath, he looked down at the street, saw that his roommates had gone, and hastily left the apartment, hoping his thoughts of Eponine would stay behind.

* * *

The party was gorgeous. It was being held in her father's spacious backyard (Eponine didn't know why they didn't just hold it inside, in the ridiculously large and beautiful mansion, but whatever, it was their wedding) and due to Monsieur Valjean's fortune, the decorations were lavish. Eponine knew for a fact that Cosette had spent a good part of the day making the backyard look incredible. In fact, the brunette had barely avoided having to help decorate alongside Marius, who had to for obvious reasons, Jehan, who couldn't resist an engagement party, and Grantaire, who had apparently gotten the times wrong, shown up early, and thus been placed into the setup team.

Fairy lights hung from all the trees, giving the backyard an ethereal glow and standing out against the dark of the sky. Garden lights shone in various parts of the immaculate garden - apparently gardening was Monsieur Valjean's hobby - and the intense perfume of the flowers was close to overpowering the scents drifting over from the buffet table, which was at least four tables long and cluttered with appetisers, drinks, and even a chocolate fountain.

"If this is their engagement party, imagine what the wedding's gonna be like." Eponine said, barely holding back a laugh.

"It'll be intense," Courfeyrac replied, "but the best man is gonna be hot."

Eponine looked at her friend. "Marius already asked you?"

"A - you just jumped from 'best man is hot' to 'Courfeyrac is best man', so thank you. B - yeah. He sent an accapella group into my least favourite lecture, and they asked me to be his best man through song. When I said yes, they gave me flowers. I think the professor hates me now, but I think it was the coolest thing to ever happen in the class."

Eponine rolled her eyes. Of course Marius would do that.

"And who will you be walking down the aisle with? Some hot friend of Cosette's from uni?" If there was some hint of the question 'do you think she'll pick me' in Eponine's words, so what? Curiosity never hurt anybody. (Except for the cat, obviously.)

Courfeyrac turned to properly face Eponine. He looked at her for a moment, the left corner of his mouth turned up, and nodded. "Something like that."

Eponine couldn't resist smiling back at him, because she knew that he could tell what she was really asking. "Not that I care, y'know. I mean, Cosette will probably pick someone really hot and awesome."

"Only to compliment the best man's hotness, of course."

"Of course."

A comfortable sense of quiet fell over them as they surveyed the garden together, listening to the music (a mix of classical, pop and indie tracks that somehow worked very well together when played in a row) and watching Cosette and Marius dance together in the centre of the makeshift dance floor that had been assembled in the courtyard-ish part of the garden.

"They look like they belong in a movie," Eponine said, suddenly wishing she had one of those Canon HD cameras.

"Are things going to be weird between us now?"

Eponine jumped a bit, despite herself, because the question was so damn out of the blue.

"Um."

"Seriously," Courfeyrac continued, "if it's going to be the way you and Enjolras are, I might shoot myself."

"Courfeyrac, we slept together. We didn't make a vow to love each other for all eternity."

A chuckle. "Yeah, I know. And I mean, you're pretty cool, Ep. I would probably be asking you out right about now if I didn't know about all the Enjolras stuff."

Okay, wasn't expecting that. Eponine thought.

"Courf, that's really sweet, but-"

"No, stop. I'm not playing the poor, sad guy in the fedora hat who complains about being in the friendzone. Punch me in the face if I ever start acting like that. I'm just saying… I think you're amazing, Ep, and Enjolras… if he never wakes up and sees that, then he obviously sucks. A lot."

Eponine coughed."Thanks." She paused for a moment, unsure about saying the words running through her head that she desperately needed to get out. "But I just want to say that, uh - that we'll never be the way Enjolras and I are."

"Grammar much?"

"No, seriously. I need you to know this. Marius was a stupid, schoolgirl crush. You are my best friend. But Enjolras… if he ever felt the same, I would jump in." Eponine was saying the words just as quickly as she was realising how damn true they were, how oblivious she'd been. "The way I feel about him - it's crazy. Sometimes he feels like the only sane thing in my life, even though our relationship - or friendship, or acquaintanceship, or whatever you want to call it - is positively insane. I don't think I'll ever find that kind of feeling again. And I can live with that. But I need you to know that. And also," - deep breath - "I'm kind of crazy. If I were you, I would not be so hasty to jump aboard this ship."

"I know all that, you idiot." Courfeyrac said after a long, excruciatingly awkward pause. "That's why I'm going to ask out Jehan and leave you to your angsty feelings for Enjolras."

And then he walked off, leaving Eponine with her eyes and mouth wide open. She looked out onto the 'dance floor' and noticed Cosette dancing with her father. Absentmindedly, she wondered where Marius had gone off to.

* * *

Enjolras and Eponine?! Marius screamed internally as he walked away from the tree he'd been standing behind.

He had just wanted a few minutes away from Monsieur Valjean, because though the man was extremely kind (almost saint-like, in fact) and very wise, he really could go on when someone asked him about the garden. It was a beautiful garden, but there was only so many tips on mulch Marius could nod along to before he went absolutely insane.

Anyway, he'd stepped into the shadows of the garden for a moment away from the crowd, and accidentally overheard a chunk of Eponine and Courfeyrac's conversation.

"But Enjolras… if he ever felt the same, I would jump in. The way I feel about him - it's crazy. Sometimes he feels like the only sane thing in my life, even though our relationship - or friendship, or acquaintanceship, or whatever you want to call it - is positively insane. I don't think I'll ever find that kind of feeling again. And I can live with that. But I need you to know that."

You step away from a party for two damn minutes and end up hearing someone's romantic awakening!

Marius found that he'd made his way over to the front gate, and since basically everyone had now arrived, he stopped there, and then began to frantically pace.

What am I even meant to do with this information? I should tell Cosette! She'll know what to do-

"Marius?"

Marius froze and turned to see Enjolras on the other side of the gate, holding a present in one hand and the handle to the gate in the other.

Oh, I wonder if he got us that toaster we asked for - nobody else remembered to get it…

"Are you alright?" The man asked, a strange look on his face.

Concentrate, Marius!

"Me? Yeah. I'm fine."

Oh god, what if I slip up and tell him?

Marius realised that Enjolras was kind of slumped, and his eyes looked tired and - well, kind of sad.

"Are you alright? You look upset."

"I'm fine-"

"Stop it," Marius interrupted, "because you're obviously not. Come on, nobody is allowed to be sad at this party. Cosette expressly forbade it."

Enjolras sighed, opened the gate and came in. "Really, Marius, I'm fine. I'm just dealing with things I thought I'd never have to deal with."

"What kind of things?"

Enjolras sighed again, even louder this time, and seemed to fumble for a word. "I don't know… romantic things?"

"You… are dealing with… romantic things?"

The blonde rolled his eyes so heavily it was a wonder they didn't fall out. "Yes, I know, 'the marble man has cracked', blah-de-fucking-blah."

"What kind of romantic things?"

"I just… there's this person, and I have feelings for them, but I've screwed everything up, and they'll never think of me that way anyway, and-"

Enjolras had never opened opened up to him before, so it took a while for a particular thought to strike Marius, but when it did strike him, he had to literally bite down on his own tongue to keep from yelling. "This wouldn't have anything to do with Eponine, would it?"

Marius shut his eyes as soon as the question came out. Of course it's not, now he's going to get angry or ask why you immediately thought of Eponine, and then you'll spill everything, and Eponine will get angry, and she'll probably hit you, and-

"How did you know?" There was a look of alarm on Enjolras' face that almost resembled a deer caught in the headlights.

"How did I-" Marius began, before his brain caught up with what he had just heard.

Enjolras loves someone who he thinks doesn't feel the same way. Eponine loves Enjolras, and she thinks he doesn't feel the same way.

Marius' eyes widened and he looked right at Enjolras to say his next words. "Oh, you absolute idiots."

* * *

A/N: Marius Pontmercy, everybody. I know he's been a bit of a douche, but he's just a clueless lil' animal, really… and now the fate of E/E is in his hands…

I'm getting an urge to run for cover again for some reason. Odd, right?

(Seriously, I promise this will probably, maybe, hopefully be fixed. Or not.)


End file.
